


The Other Me

by GaterDaGunslinger



Series: The Other Me Universe [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drama, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship, Love, Love/Hate, Marriage, Obedience, Obsession, Romance, Some Humor, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 81,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24943825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaterDaGunslinger/pseuds/GaterDaGunslinger
Summary: Everything was peaceful. Too peaceful in our blue hero's opinion. However, those peaceful times end when Shadow appears into the Sonic gang's lives wearing a ruin tux like he had attended a wedding and got into a brawl on the same day. To make things worse, Sonic now has to deal with his greatest foe yet; himself!
Relationships: Amy Rose/Shadow the Hedgehog, Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog, Cream the Rabbit/Miles "Tails" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna/Rouge the Bat, SonAmy
Series: The Other Me Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805269
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29





	1. Another World

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go!
> 
> This story takes place in TWO different Sonic Universes and I will be going back and forth between the Sonic worlds, but just not in this first chapter. This chapter will only focus on... lets call it Universe 14, which is the one I made up. The Universe we all know in love, (which we will call Universe 1) will appear in the next chapter and on as the story progresses. This story takes place after Sonic Adventure 2 and a little beyond the Sonic Advance 2 events since you know, Cream is around. but just not right after. I don't have a time frame, but it's probably a hand full of years down. Because of this, the only characters around will be every one that existed from Sonic Adventure 1 (you can say Sonic 1) to Sonic Advance 2. So no Silver, Blaze and Sonic 06. This story is pretty old, 9 years old lol It fact, it's complete with 21 chapters in Fanfiction .net. I'm just posting it here to put myself out there more. I know, I should have done this YEARS ago, but ehh screw it. If you do decide to go to fanfic .net to read the rest, just know that the one here will be the superior version.
> 
> Character ages changes because I want to.
> 
> Sonic - 20
> 
> Amy Rose - 19 (almost 20)
> 
> Shadow - (19-20) (He was never cryogenically frozen in U14)
> 
> Tails (Miles) - 14
> 
> Cream - 13
> 
> Knuckles - 22
> 
> Rouge - 23
> 
> Robotnik - (Ehh, use your imagination!)
> 
> WARNING: This chapter is a little violently graphic (at least I think it's little). Since it is old, it isn't over the top...I could make it worse lol Only a few chapters are sort of like this, but that's why I kept this Teen rating. This brushed M...I think =)
> 
> Oh and before I forget! Universe 1 characters are TWO years younger than Universe 14. So just subtract 2 from the ages above!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sega does, but I will play pretend so I can write this.

* * *

_**Another World** _

* * *

Thunder sparked and crackled in the dark grey skies above as powerful gusts of wind shook the lush trees that reside deep within the Mystic Ruins forest. Near one of the narrow streams, an orange two-tailed male fox followed closely by a tan-ish cream colored female rabbit strode through the thick grassy plains. Over the years, the mystical ruins began to grow thicker grass beneath the earth's soil, which made it a nuisance to walk through the quiet forest.

"Ugh! Tell me _why_ we're going through this yucky forest again? When we could be at Rose's wedding?" Whined the irritated rabbit, her fur ruffling each time it made contact with a tree branch.

A slight sigh escaped the annoyed fox. The consistent moaning and whining coming from the usually perky rabbit was starting to get on his last nerves. He didn't invite her to come along in the first place. She insisted even when she _knew_ that it wasn't going to be a pleasant trip.

"I already told you Cream!" The fox started, sternly. "I'm not going to a stupid wedding while this crazy scientist and _hedgehog_ are on the loose plotting who knows what! I'm going to catch them before their next dirty move." He spat out, making sure to put strong bitterness on the word 'hedgehog' as it rolled off his tongue. "Besides, Amy is crazy for having a wedding today! Look at the damn sky and tell me it isn't going to pour rain sometime soon! So no, you can go. I'm staying."

"Then I'm staying too." Cream replied firmly.

Miles said nothing and continued on.

Cream sighed as she followed the fox. Rose is a sweet yet very stubborn hedgehog. Once she sets her mind on something, she was determined to go through with it no matter what. Even if a certain red and black hedgehog objected. Sure he wants to get married as soon as possible, but with how things are now, it isn't exactly the right time.

"You do remember that she planned this wedding several months ago right?" The rabbit pointed out as she almost tripped over a rather large branch that was lodged into the murky ground.

"Of course I do, but she needs to learn how to reschedule things." The fox replied as he shoved and cut stubborn tree branches that happened to be in the way with a sharp blade. "Did you see the look on Shadow's face when Rose just decided that they were going to get married? It was priceless!" He chuckled.

"Hey! He was just trying to keep his-"

"-'lovely pink rose happy!'" He cut off the rabbit with a high pitch yet sarcastic tone. He then chuckled once more before proceeding, "Makes me wonder who the male in the relationship really is…"

Even though the fox wasn't looking, he just knew the rabbit was giving him a rather bored expression, "Miles, you know that if you told that to his face, he would beat you."

Miles didn't respond back since he knew that was true, which in turn caused the slightly flushed and irate rabbit to smirk.

The rest of the walk through the forest was done in silence if you omit the occasional sighs and moans coming from the rabbit which only further annoyed the twin-tailed fox. _Why did I bring her…_ the teenage fox berated himself, releasing a low grunt which thankfully the rabbit missed. However, he knew why he did. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he had taken a strong liking to the pushy rabbit. The thing was; he wasn't exactly sure why he did. She always nagged him to no end about stupid issues, usually hers, and never knew exactly when to pipe down. Maybe it was her cute pout when she didn't get her way. Maybe it was the slightly dazed look in her half-lidded round eyes when she was in deep thought. Or maybe just _maybe_ it's those stupidly large yet soft bunny ears that hung loosely down the back of her head. There're times that he wanted to just grab those cuddly bunny ears and just stroke them until she fell asleep on his la – he abruptly put a stop to those thoughts before he finished them with a small slap to his face.

_There I go again with those ridiculous thoughts!_ He chastened with a disgusted look.

Cream, who was finally sided by side with the fox, noticed that he was slapping himself silly,

"Uhh, are you alright there Miles?"

As soon as the fox heard his secret crush speak, he stopped beating his face in as he blushed with embarrassment at being caught doing something stupid. "Ye-yeah! Just annoying insects were attacking me is all!"

The rabbit frowned. "If you would have listened to me before we left and put on some bug repellant as I did, you wouldn't be assaulting yourself."

Before the fox could respond, he noticed that they had arrived at their destination. Doctor Robotnik's secret hidden base…which was a poor excuse of a shack. It looked so bad, that it seemed like it could collapse at any moment. However, this didn't fool the intelligent fox. He had done his research before he came to the current location. Beneath that crappy looking shack was a hidden base.

"Miles? Are you sure-"

"Shhhh!" the fox hissed at the rabbit as he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to a nearby bush which was a few feet from the old shack. The rabbit hissed when her bottom hit the ground. Shortly after, Cream gave the orange fox a rather nasty glare; she was going to give him a piece of her mind until she saw just why the fox had pulled her down. A few highly advanced metallic robots had passed by them. The robots had a close resemblance to the E-101 Mark. II model, but were slightly smaller and a lot quieter than it ever was, which is why it almost caused the sneaking rabbit and fox to get caught.

Once they passed by, the two-tailed fox felt a vibration from within his small yellow backpack. Miles swiftly slid the backpack off his back and opened it and pulled out a small circular looking device with a grid. Within the grid, six yellow dots were clustered together, blinking rapidly. He saw another blinking dot, but it was much further from the others.

"Crap!" The fox swore.

"Now who's being loud," The tan rabbit muttered with a raised eyebrow, her hands on her hips.

But it appeared that the fox didn't hear the rabbit since he was still staring at the radar will a look that could only be described as fear.

"Miles? Is everything alright?"

"N-No it really isn't" The fox shuddered out as he held out the radar for the rabbit to see. "They have six of the Chaos Emerald, which means-" He didn't have to finish said sentence since the female rabbit understood clearly what it meant. The Robotniks now had all except one- the one with Shadow.

"Miles… we have to try to stop them…" The rabbit whispered quietly to the tensed fox as she too feared the worse.

Miles let a breath out, attempting to calm his nerves. He then refocused back to robots and saw them disappear through a secret entrance within the shack. "No. We HAVE to do it." The fox stated as the fear within his eyes turned into a look of pure determination.

Cream saw the changed and quickly stepped in front of him and grabbed his furry cheeks within her hands, causing his triangular ear to twitch wildly and his eyes to widen. As Cream forced Miles to look deeply within her eyes, his demeanor changed from surprise to… adoration? Unfortunately, as soon as she saw it, it was gone and replaced with determination once more. _Did I just see that?_

Frowning at the sudden display of affection, he harshly shoved the rabbit's hands off his face and turned before he did something stupid like kiss the cute rabbit on the lips.

"I know what you are going to say and no." He started. "I can't always depend on Shadow. Besides this is his and Amy's day…" Without another word, he began stealthily walking towards the cabin.

The tan rabbit sighed with defeat, trailing behind the fox. She knew that this was crazy. That horrible hedgehog was a _monster_ with a heart as cold as _ice_. He didn't care about anyone but himself and absolute power. If he got the last Chaos Emerald, unlike last time, it would truly be the end of them all… wouldn't it?

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX The Other ME XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"So when are we going to get the last emerald _doctor_ …" A smooth cocky voice echoed deep within the mad doctor's base.

"Soon my boy! We just need to do a little more planning and then we can-"

He was silenced as a blur rushed at him, grabbed his neck tightly, and roughly slammed the mad scientist against a metal wall, the impact causing it to groan. Though the hedgehog was much shorter than the doctor, that immediately changed as he literally choked him until he was brought down to his knees. The only thing that the doctor could see was the trench coat that touched the bottom of his feet.

As he stared at him with his piercing emerald green eyes, his ears twitched as a light feminine gasp was heard within the distance. _Fools…_ the hedgehog thought, frowning.

" Enough Planning." The hedgehog hissed coldly as the doctor began to slowly lose consciousness. "I've waited long _enough."_ The hedgehog snarled with disgust, releasing the doctor before he passed out, letting him suck in precious air. The doctor coughed severely as he stroked his aching neck.

"B-But m-my boy we still-"

" _ENOUGH_!" The hedgehog shouted again, causing the two intruders and the doctor to flinch. "I am not your son Ivo…. refer to me as Sonic Robotnik!" The hedgehog exclaimed as he finally stepped out of the shadows.

The doctor, now known as Ivo, leaned heavily against the dented iron wall until his back straightened out. He then tried to sit up and fortunately succeeded. _I'm getting too old for this._

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog laughed. It wasn't that soft pleasant laughter that someone usually heard after an amusing joke, no, it was a disturbing one. It had a minor crackly to it.

"Or maybe just Robotnik since I will be the LAST one to carry that name in a second or so…" As soon as Sonic said that, the temperature dropped in the room, causing goosebumps to crawl along Miles and Cream's skin.

"He wouldn't…" Cream, who was behind large metal machinery alongside Miles, muttered with pure dread.

Miles had a look of revulsion. "He would."

Ivo turned pale, trembling as he began to fear for his life. He raised the hedgehog like his own son, how could he-

His thoughts were silence when Sonic gave Ivo one of the most warped looks he had ever seen.

"Please...don't..."

Sonic crackled again, this time though, it sounded smoother as he slowly began walking towards the cornered doctor.

"Thanks… _father_ for everything you have teached me." As the blue hedgehog closed in on the terrified doctor, the sound of him pop and snapping his knuckles echoed throughout the lab. It was as if he _wanted_ the intruders to hear what was sure to soon follow.

Within a blink of an eye, the blue hedgehog appeared right in front of Ivo's face, causing the doctor to stop breathing.

Seconds later, a bone-crushing sound was heard as the hedgehog's fist met the doctor's face. Cream immediately shut her eyes tightly and jumped within the fox's chest. Miles caught her and held her tightly as he trembled at what he was witnessing. The disgusting hedgehog was savagely beating the life out of the doctor. Every punch caused blood to gush to the surface and Miles couldn't help but gag at the gruesome scene playing out.

Even though the rabbit wasn't looking, her large ears made it quite difficult to block out each and every cracking sound that was heard with every fist that connected with the doctor's disfigured face. Miles just tightened his hold on the quivering rabbit as he could not remove his eyes from the brutal scene.

After what felt like hours, which was actually only minutes, the hedgehog stopped ramming his fist into Ivo's face. Sonic looked at his handy work with sick amusement as his knuckles dripped with blood. Ivo wasn't dead yet but he was having trouble breathing. Sonic jerked the doctor by his collar and wrapped his arm around his neck, applying pressure.

"Don't worry Ivo…" he whispered in his ear. "The world will be remade in our image, just like you've always wanted…"

Miles couldn't stomach to watch anymore. As soon as he turned, he and the rabbit heard a sickening bone snapping sound that would most likely never be forgotten.

Sonic stared blankly at the doctor's motionless body. He then looked at his trench coat and noticed that it was soiled with Ivo's blood. He was going to need another trench coat.

"Oh Rose…Rose, Rose, Rose… Amy _Rose_ " Sonic stated loudly with the ever twisted smirk across his lips. "You _will_ be mine soon enough…" he added, obsessively.

Miles turned his face towards the deranged blue hedgehog as soon as he heard him basically sing Rose's name. Rose, along with Shadow and Cream, was the closest thing to a family he had left. Rose was like the big sister he always wanted and it absolutely sickened him to hear that monster say her name with such lust evident in his voice. There were many reasons why he despised the hedgehog. The biggest one would be the day that he murdered his parents, which he missed dearly. Another would be that he also was responsible for the murder of two other good friends of his. Now this monster wanted to not only kill Shadow, his big brother figure. but also take his big sister for his own sick perverted reasons. Sonic has always been absolutely obsessed with Rose and was angry that she's with Shadow. So for many years, he's been trying to get rid of the black hedgehog so he could finally take the pink hedgehog whether she liked it or not.

"This was a stupid idea…I'm so sorry I came and brought you along with me Cream… " Miles whispered softly with deep sorrow evident in his voice as he tightly held the tan rabbit, "I know I don't stand a god damn chance against that monster and I still let my stubbornness get the best of me…"

The rabbit pulled away slightly from the fox, enough to see his face and caressed it with her small hands to gain his attention. When the fox looked at the rabbit, he felt even worse when he saw that her eyes were blotchy from all the crying she must have done while in his embrace.

"It was stupid… but don't beat yourself up for something that was already done. Besides, I insisted on coming along so don't blame it all on yourself." Cream responded, smiling weakly.

"Now let's get out of here while we still can. I don't think he knows we're here."

"Right." The fox returned the smile as he then stood up and helped the rabbit onto her feet.

Unfortunately, before they could take a step, a voice they knew all too well stopped them, freezing them in fear.

"Uh uh ahhhh…." The blue hedgehog sung as he walked within the entrance of the lab, fixing his new trench coat to his liking as he passed the doctor's lifeless body.

"Where do you both think you're going?" He questioned, stopping them from moving any further.

"Heh if you two weren't sobbing in the corner there, you both _might_ have had a chance to escape while I got another coat."

Miles glared at the blue hedgehog with pure hatred while Cream had the look of absolute panic in her eyes.

"Bull!" Miles spat out. "You _knew_ we were here the whole time!"

The arrogant hedgehog smirked nastily, confirming that the fox's suspicion was indeed correct. "Yeah, you're probably right... _Tails..._ " Sonic taunted. The hedgehog knew very well that the fox hated being called 'Tails' since the only ones that ever did were his parents. He just loved pushing others buttons didn't he.

Face it, the moment that the blue hedgehog figured Miles and Cream were within the base, they were screwed because how can anyone escape the fastest thing alive?


	2. Crashed Wedding

* * *

_**Crashed Wedding** _

* * *

"Shadow…I'm starting to get worried…" a certain pink hedgehog said with concern.

The black and red hedgehog, who is having the after wedding dance with his new wife, Rose, failed to hear her worries. Many things have been running through the black hedgehog's mind. One of them happened to be the same reason that Rose was worried. Miles and Cream never made it to the wedding and he could not shake off the awful feeling that Miles had one of his stubborn moments again and did something stupid like head to a certain evil hedgehog's base. It had taken them months to location the Robotniks's hidden base and knowing the fox as well as he did, he was almost one hundred percent sure that he went down there. Cream's absents also confirmed that she had run along with him. As much as the rabbit loved Rose and wanted to be here for the wedding, he also knew that she would not let the two-tailed fox head there all by himself.

Another reason would be the fact that before they found Robotnik's base, they had been searching for the Chaos Emeralds but strangely never found any; except one. Shadow had been around for while so even though he isn't perfectly synchronized with chaos energy, he has mastered it to the point that locating the emeralds isn't a problem at all. In fact, it just would take him a little under a day to collect them all. That's what he had tried to do about two days ago, but could not locate any except the red one which currently rested within his pants pocket. He never understood why every time he searched for the seven powerful gems, he always found the red one first. It was almost as if he had some kind of connection to that particular emerald, because not only did he always find it first, but it always dragged him out of a difficult situation.

For instance, about a month ago, which so happened to be the last time the Robotniks attacked, Shadow was able to actually stop Sonic's super transformation seconds before it was completed by stupidly asking 'lucky ruby' to not let the blasted hedgehog transform. He probably would have laughed at that moment because Rose, who had been a few feet away from him struggling to stand up after succumbing to a sucker punch by one of Dr. Robotnik's many robots, glared at him, most likely thinking that he was talking about another female. Anyways, turns out that 'lucky ruby' had heard his pled because as the blue hedgehog was transforming, he was abruptly shocked by the one of the Chaos Emeralds that circled his figure, which happened to be the red one. Shortly after the shock, the emerald literally bolted from Sonic and landed near the black hedgehog's feet. It was truly bizarre but he thanked God that it did or else they would've been done for. The black hedgehog never understood why the blue hedgehog was so powerful when he transformed into his super form. Sure he was pretty powerful himself in his transformed state, but not nearly as powerful as the blue blur. Not only can Sonic stand up to Shadow while he was transformed, he can also generate much more power and make it last for longer periods of time.

"Sweetie? You've been awfully quiet…" This snapped the black hedgehog out of his deep thoughts as he remembered exactly where he was. He stared at the pink hedgehog's worried expression and frowned. He hated seeing her upset in any way, especially today since it was their wedding and honestly, he was doing this for her. He'd do anything that would make her smile and keep her happy, including this silly wedding. He wished that it was a private wedding because he never liked being the center of attention. You see, Shadow has not only become Station Square's protector, but he has also started to slowly become the world savor; he, along with Rose, Miles, and Cream traveled the world-saving all types of people and animals in need. So when a random person happened to overhear a loud perky rabbit months back that he and Rose were getting married, some loser opened his mouth and not even an hour later the whole city knew of their planned wedding. He was irritated for days at the bunny but forgave her when the pink hedgehog kept insisting that she kind of wanted the whole world to know that she was his and his only.

"I'm sorry Rose that I've been kind of spaced out…" Shadow whispered softly as he kissed the pink hedgehog on her lush lips, causing her to sigh in content. His kisses always relaxed her when she was worried and today was no different.

"I never got to tell you just how beautiful you look in that dress did I?" the black hedgehog complimented with a small smile which caused the pink hedgehog to turn pinker… if that was even possible.

"Shadow…" Rose whispered softly as she hugged the black and red hedgehog tightly, which said hedgehog returned. Shadow was never the emotional type so that he said a compliment at all meant a lot. That and it was pretty much impossible to get him to smile, especially in front of others. However, he was getting much better at it and what he just said and did proved it.

Much to the pink hedgehog's disappointment, the black one pulled away; he still remained within arm's length though.

"Rose, can you close your eyes for a second? I got something for you."

Rose nodded and complied with the request. She's always been one to love gifts, no matter what it was. Just the fact that he had taken the time to get her a present made her feel giddy all over.

The pink bride heard a slight unclipping sound before she felt the black hedgehog take a hold of her left wrist gently and then proceed to hear and feel something click with a secure snap.

"Okay…you can open them."

She didn't need to be told twice as her eyes shot open and hastily landed on her left wrist to see what looked like his gold bracelet. Her eyes shifted to her husband's own wrist and noticed that her assumption was correct seeing as how he was missing one of the two gold bracelets.

"Shadow… you shouldn't have…" Rose whispered as grateful tears began to leak out of her bright jaded eyes.

"But I did…" The black hedgehog countered as he gazed affectionately at his wife and reached for her wet cheeks to remove the dropped tears. "I always want you to know that I will always cherish and love you no matter what and what better way than to give you something that I've had since the day I was born…"

"Oh Shadow…" His touching words only caused further tears to escape her glossy eyes. To her, that bracelet meant more than the wedding ring she received from him mere moments ago since it was like he was giving her a piece of himself to always have.

Rose launched herself into the black hedgehog's arms as she hugged him like her life depended on it and repeatedly told him how much she loved him. Shadow, for the first time ever, smiled completely as he returned the hug, though not as tightly as the pink one. He knew that giving her one of his bracelets would slightly reduce his power since he used it to utilize Chaos energy, but he felt like it was worth it so that she was able to protect herself if he wasn't around. Besides, he believed that the years of training he's had would be efficient enough to protect not only himself but most importantly, the people he cared about from harm.

Suddenly and unfortunately, a rather loud clapping sound was heard a few distances away from the recently married hedgehogs. As they turned to the direction it came from, they saw that people were backing away with pure fear from the applauding hedgehog that seemed to love wearing trench coats.

"Congratulations Shaddy-boy! However, I'm disappointed I wasn't invited," Sonic taunted, faking a pout and hurt expression.

Shadow's expression turned into one of pure rage as he pushed Rose behind him in a protective manner. "What the hell are you doing here!?"

Sonic gave a wolfish grin as a bright flash erupted from within him, causing everyone in the church to close their eyes at the brightness.

Once the light faded, the female and male hedgehog opened their eyes to witness the blue hedgehog surround by six of the seven Chaos Emeralds with that disgusting smirk spread across his lips. The blue blur's piercing emerald green eyes flickered between red every now and then most likely because the last powerful gem was within the reach.

Rose gasped as Shadow fists tightened with fiery. "So that's why I couldn't locate the emeralds."

"Heh, that and I was masking them with a trick I learned to do not too long ago!" The blue one rubbed in; he always loved to have the upper hand.

"However, I'm not too happy that an annoying fox had a device that could break through the trick I learned." His smirk widened despite his disappointment.

Rose turned pale and so did Shadow, but it was difficult to see since his dark fur covers him nicely. "What did you do to him bastard?!" he demanded, starting to fear the worse.

"Oh nothing, he's just enjoying the scenery with his cuddly bunny on the rooftop of the church." The twisted hedgehog stated casually.

"Oh god…" Rose's hands flew to her mouth in shock whilst more fury burned within Shadow.

"If they're -"

"There's still alive…. for now, however, it would be a shame if a bolt of electricity barbequed them in a minute or so, considering the weather and all."

Shadow had enough of the blue hedgehog's mouth and instantly whipped out the red emerald, getting himself ready to chaos control to the rooftop but was stopped by the blue blur's voice.

"If you leave, don't be surprised to find out that your wife is missing,"

"Why you-"

"Just hand me the last emerald and I'll leave quietly while you save your friends." He said, which sounded a little _too_ friendly.

"Damn it…" Shadow was now torn between saving his two friends or remaining where he was to protect his wife. He knew giving up the emerald wasn't a smart option since that was like asking for his own death, but what choice did he have? It was times like these that the black hedgehog wished a certain red echidna and batgirl were still among the living. These thoughts only further fueled his rage because he was staring at the monster who selfishly took them away.

"Just go, I'll be fine…"

"Not a chance!" Shadow shot back to the pink one, as he kept his sight on the mad hedgehog.

"Times ticking!" Sonic taunted nastily.

'Damn that hedgehog…' Shadow thought as he clutched the red emerald tightly, which unknowingly caused the emerald to crack slightly.

Shadow thought he heard a slight crack but blamed it on his mind playing tricks on him. Emeralds can't break, can they?

The black hedgehog's glare intensified as he stepped forward, "Lucky ruby, I'm trusting you on this." He muttered to himself as he extended the hand that contained the red gem backward, getting ready to toss it over.

"Shadow no!" Rose cried out.

"Catch you jack _ass_!" The tense hedgehog all but shouted as he tossed the gem across to the awaiting blue hedgehog's hands.

As soon as Sonic caught the airborne emerald, Shadow shouted something that was unexpected.

"Chaos Control!"

As soon as he shouted the chaos command, Shadow vanished into thin air only to appear face to face with the blue hedgehog, surprising him as they found themselves in a hand to hand struggle for the red emerald. As Shadow and Sonic struggled to rip the emerald off of each other's hands, the gem in question cracked slightly more. Seconds after, they both were surrounded by six of the emeralds, the seventh one still groaning between the hedgehogs' hands. Rose and the crowd could only watch with amazement as the brawling hedgehogs' fur began to change colors, one was turning bright gold while the other was changing to a silver-ish gold.

"How _dare_ you show your disgusting face on my wedding and hurt my friends!" Shadow grunted out as his blood boiled in his veins with white blinding rage, refusing to release the emerald.

"Oh boohoo!" The mad hedgehog spat out, equally as angry as he began thrusting his free fist onto the other hedgehog's open stomach.

With one final grunt from both the hedgehogs, their eyes widened as pure adrenaline caused them to transform into their respective super forms. Their transformation exploded with such power that everyone that was still stupid enough to stay within the church got blown away, except Rose, who smartly kneed on the floor and gripped a nearby white column tightly.

All of a sudden, it was like time stopped as a rather large cracking sound was heard. That time, Shadow definitely heard it but refused to change his focus from the hedgehog before him, who seemed to become angrier and angrier by the minute. The red emerald split was rather large at this point, but surprisingly it was still in one piece.

Rose, who can only stare in pure astonishment at what was happening before her, instantly noticed that the red emerald was glowing rather oddly, especially from the large jagged split on the side facing her. ' _Oh god! This doesn't look good! Shadow!_ ' She thought franticly as her nerves were beginning to drive her crazy.

Just as strange as the split on the red gem, another bizarre event transpired that not only further amazed Rose, but also the struggling hedgehogs as they were closer to the cause. The ruby emerald shimmered brilliantly as it literally sucked the super-powered hedgehogs' chaos energy through the large crack, returning them both back to their natural state.

"What the-" Both hedgehogs cried out simultaneously, but before they could finish, an odd greenish chaos energy surrounded the red emerald and everything it was in contact with. The energy snap crack and sparkled loudly with electricity as six of the seven emeralds appeared out of nowhere, encircling both hedgehogs before harshly scattering around the wedding chapel, leaving its red brother within the hedgehogs' grasp. Shortly after, a small vortex ripped through time and space between red gem, before it began expanding until both hedgehogs could fit inside it.

Shadow, a little frightened, looked at Rose to say one last thing before who knows what happens.

"I swear I'll find my way back to you Amy Rose…"

After that, he and Sonic vanished within the vertex without a trace.

An eerie silence then followed.

"NO! SHADOW!" The devastated pink hedgehog cried out as she hysterically ran forward and fell on the spot her beloved husband once was.

She felt like she was going to have a mental breakdown but fortunately it didn't happen because she remembered that if Miles and Cream were indeed on the top of this church, she needed to find a way to get them down fast.

Rose broke into a flat out sprint out of the church, but unluckily and luckily at the same time, she tripped over a hard object that was below, causing her to land face-first on to the white floor. She rocked on the floor as she held her mouth, the hard fall causing pain to shoot through her teeth.

"I'm going to have a chipped tooth!" She hissed out. However, her expression changed from pain to surprise as she saw just what caused her fall.

The yellow Chaos Emerald.

Rose was confused at first but then memories hit her noggin as she remembered that the emeralds had scattered moments before the vortex appeared.

She looked around the chapel and indeed saw the Chaos Emeralds all around.

"Screw the stupid jewels! Miles and Cream could be fried any moment now!" She huffed out as she once again ran off to the exit, this time making it out safely.

The pink hedgehog never did notice that one particular emerald was missing.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"I bet you ten bucks that I could run over the whole ocean and still make it back before launch time which is in ummm about 5 minutes right?!" A blue hedgehog, known as the world savor, taunted playfully to his two good friends, a young male fox, and a female rabbit, who were currently preparing said launch on a small black grill stand while socializing. They both had heard their blue hero's bet but they didn't care to respond. They already knew that he'd win since he was the fastest thing in the freaking world.

Sonic saw this and frowned with disappointment. "You're not being cool buddy!"

Tails sighed with annoyance, hating to be interrupted while in a conversation with his girlfriend, Cream.

"No! YOU'RE not being cool for trying to get me into a bet that I will most certainly lose!" Tails hollered back. He then turned away from his pretty bunny and the hot grill to face the blue blur.

"Sonic, why didn't you invite Amy to the beach with us so you can actually interact with someone? Aren't you bored of showing off to yourself all day?"

"Ha! Good one!" Tails laughed

"W-What?" Sonic spluttered out with nervousness, which caused the fox and rabbit to smirk with amusement.

Over the years, Sonic has started to fall terribly in love with the pink hedgehog, though he would never admit it. However it didn't matter because not only did Tails, Cream, Knuckles, and Rouge know it, but Amy herself already figured it out, which she happened to use to her advantage. Cream, who is great friends with Amy, knew that she wanted Sonic to ask her out, but the stubborn hedgehog just didn't either want to do it or was too scared. Cream simply told her to just ask him herself but she flat out refused since she's been asking him to be his girlfriend for years and now that _he_ actually wanted it too he's being a, in her own words, a _pansy_.

"Sonic, just admit that you're in love with her and ask her out already!" Tails taunted as Sonic began to sweat bullets and blush horribly.

"I DO NOT LIKE THAT GRABBY PINK PRETTY UGH I MEAN ICKY HEDGEHOG!" Sonic cried out with nervousness.

"Have you told her she was pretty?" Cream chimed in, which caused Tails to snicker quietly.

"Well, one day I saw her and….err HEY STOP THAT!" The extreme anxiety he felt was causing him to screw up his words.

"Some friends you both are! You guys suck!"

And just like that, Sonic blasted away from the beach, across the ocean, disappearing in the horizon as he broke the sound barrier.

"Ugh, and I thought I was supposed to be the younger brother!" Tails uttered with bewilderment at the blue hedgehog childish behavior.

"Amy was right… he IS a pansy!"

Cream's statement caused her and the fox to have an uncontrollable laughing fit.

That is until the rabbit and the fox smelled smoke in the air.

"Oh god! The food!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Posted: 6/28/2020
> 
> ~Gater~


	3. Shocking Discoveries

* * *

_**Shocking Discoveries** _

* * *

The Mystic Ruins was usually a quiet, calm, and peaceful place in the morning time. This morning, however, was different because the peacefulness was disrupted by a rather large electrically charged crackling sound that frightened all the animals within the area away. The whole forest seemed to tremble as an unearthly rip through time and space appeared out of nowhere, in the very center of the forest. Shortly after, a small-sized vortex appeared in the said area as it then expanded until two shaded figured appeared within it. Then, within a blink of an eye, it burst horizontally as it expelled two hedgehogs out of it before it sealed up, not leaving a single trace that it was ever there.

Both hedgehogs, one blue and the other black landed in the opposite direction, a red gem cluttered down between them.

Shadow groaned softly as he felt throbbing pain rush through his head, which caused him to grip it as an attempt to lessen it down. As soon as he refocused, his eyes snapped open to see the clear blue sky above. He sat up slowly as he didn't want to feel any more unwanted discomfort and looked ahead. His eyes narrowed as he saw the twisted blue hedgehog already standing and eyeing him with a taunting expression.

"Heh Shaddy-boy, got a boo-boo?"

"Shut up!"

"Why don't you make me?!"

"It would be my pleasure!"

Just like that, the short dispute ended as both hedgehogs resumed the fight where they had left off. With pure hate and rage, the black and red hedgehog shot forward and hit the surprised blue hedgehog on the ribs, stomach, and face before ending his combo with a bone-shattering punch down his head, which caused him to land face front on the grassy earth. As Shadow attempted to crush the blue one's face into the dirt with his foot, Sonic avoided it by rolling to his left before flipping onto his feet and side kicking the other in the back of the head, causing him to hiss in pain. The black and red hedgehog quickly regained his composure and blocked the incoming fist with his right arm before using his free one to strike the blue hedgehog onto his opened stomach. Shadow roared as he grabbed his most despised foe's furry blue quills and tossed him across a nearby stream, having him land back-first on a large tree bark. Before Sonic knew it, the other hedgehog was face to face with him again, punching and kicking his body rapidly; he showed no mercy. However, before the black hedgehog's final fist could connect to its target, the blue hedgehog countered by catching it, pulling Shadow towards him, and then hammering his right fist into his kidney. The blue hedgehog then grabbed his opponent's midsection before trading places with himself so that the black hedgehog was the one against the tree bark instead of him. He then pulled him forward and slammed his head against the bark, which made him grunt in agony then followed up with a hard knee to the previously attacked kidney.

"You should have just handed the emerald instead of trying to be a hero!" The blue hedgehog spat out as he kept assaulting the black hedgehog against the tree bark. "Now you made me lose all the emeralds I collected!"

Shadow said nothing as his right gold bracelet began to glimmer with chaos energy. Shortly after, the energy began to envelop his whole body. As another of the blue hedgehog's fist was incoming, the black hedgehog caught it and held on to it tightly, shocking the evil hedgehog.

" **I am sick of your** _ **bullshit**_ **!"**

As soon as those words rolled out of his lips, he shot his right fist forward with such power, that a sickening snap could be heard as his fist made contact with the blue hedgehog's face, sending him soaring through the air, surely crush and smashing through some small and large branches on the way.

With immense power, Shadow shot forward, aiming to give the still airborne hedgehog a final blow. As he was about to reach his flying target, said target seemed to vanish into thin air, thus surprising the black hedgehog into a hard halt on the rough ground. As the black hedgehog looked left and right in an attempt to locate the blue one, his opponent came out of nowhere, smashing his knuckles into the cranium of the stunned hedgehog. The blue hedgehog then elbowed the now dazed hedgehog on the spine, which caused his backbone to give out a bone-crushing sound.

"It hurts doesn't it!" taunted Sonic as he harshly pushed Shadow on the ground. "You're pathetic! Seems like you're losing your touch Shaddy-boy!"

"Don't you ever just shut up?!" Shadow cried out as he flipped back onto his feet, and fired out his Chaos Spear attack.

Before the attack could land on Sonic, he countered it with a Sonic Wind, and then followed up with a homing attack into a roundhouse kick. However, Shadow countered that by side rolling to a slide kick behind the other hedgehog's knee, connecting successfully. He then grabbed the kneeling blue blur and did a hard chaos punch to his abdomen, making him momentary lose his breath.

"Now who's losing their touch?" Shadow mocked, giving the blue hedgehog a taste of his own medicine.

As Sonic caught his second wind, he blocked the black hedgehog's incoming fist then shot his right palm against his chest, following up with a breathtaking blow to the midsection, finishing with a hard uppercut on the chin, causing Shadow to shoot up through the air with incredible velocity.

"Heh, now I'll show you why they call me the speed _demon_!" Sonic shouted wickedly as his body began to get coated with greenish chaos energy.

"Hyper Speed Dash!"

Faster than the naked eye could see, the blue blur blasted straight through the air, breaking the sound barrier, aiming for the dazzled airborne hedgehog. With astonishing speed, Sonic crashed into the other hedgehog's back, surely fracturing a bone or two. As soon as Sonic's head smashed against Shadow's back, the energy that surrounded the blue hedgehog changed from the greenish color to darkish blue before he vanished and literally used his super-speed to his advantage to punch, kick, and knee the battered up black hedgehog all over his body, over and over again. Once he landed the final blow against his stomach, he back-flipped into a skull shattering heel kick, which caused the airborne hedgehog to bolt down into the grassy earth soil below with such impact, that a small earthquake could be felt throughout a small section of the forest.

Seconds after, the blue hedgehog landed on the ground with his two feet smoothly. Sonic smirked with satisfaction as he saw what was left of the other hedgehog, once the debris had cleared away; Shadow was living proof of a mighty beat down. His fancy wedding tuxedo was soiled and torn in many areas to the point that it was indescribable.

Sonic walked towards the unconscious hedgehog and stared at his figure emotionlessly, "I should kill you…but no, not now, I want a more proper setting than this forest."

His dark trench coat wavered through the air as he turned away, before stating his last words, "Besides, I _want_ to see the look on your face as I take Rose and make her mine first, before ending your pathetic life…"

As Sonic walked away from the unconscious hedgehog, he frowned as he looked around the forest with slight confusion. Though the area he was currently in was the Mystic Ruins, it had a much purer and younger feel to it.

"Strange… did that vortex only teleport me to this forest or is there something more to it..." Sonic pondered, making his exit from the forest.

Fortunately for the unconscious hedgehog, lucky ruby was only several feet behind him, hidden within a small bush.

* * *

"Oh my god! Finally!" A perky pink hedgehog cried out, making a certain jewel loving bat girl wince at her loudness.

Amy was currently having a girl's day out with Rouge, who just told her that Knuckles finally grew up and asked her out on a date. They were on their way on foot to one of the many malls in Station Square, which was completely rebuilt years ago since the watery god of destruction wrecked it.

"I'll say…" The bat muttered, "I finally got him to completely trust me around his precious giant jewel and I have a feeling that that was the major reason why he didn't want to ask me out."

"Yeah, you both didn't really meet in the best terms huh? With you trying to steal the Master Emerald and all,"

Rouge sighed softly as a shamefaced expression spread across her face at that particular past memory, "At the time, I didn't have many friends so stealing jewelry always made me feel better…"

"Oh don't drive yourself bat-crazy over it, the past is the past!" Amy said with a cheerful smile.

"Besides it all worked out in the end!"

"You're right I guess," Rouge replied with a small smile before it was replaced with a mischievous one, which caused the pink hedgehog to sigh, knowing what was coming next.

"Sooo what's been up with that blue-toy of your?"

Amy blushed brightly at Rouge's teasing jester, before replying, "He's still scared ugh! It's as if he's getting worse and worse by the day!" She huffed out.

"That bad huh?"

"Yes!" Amy replied. "I mean as of lately, there is not one time that he doesn't screw up his sentences when speaking to me! I feel bad because I don't know how to calm his nerves down! What the heck is causing this ridiculous nervousness!?"

Rouge gathered her thoughts before responding to the pink hedgehog's inquiry, as they both crossed a red light. "Well to start with, he most likely just realized that he likes you. Then I guess since you stopped chasing him like the mad hedgehog that you were…"

The bat's last sentence caused the usually bouncy pink hedgehog to blush with utter embarrassment. She still could _not_ believe that she acted that way back then.

"And lastly, it's the way you look…"

"Wh-What? What's wrong with the way I look?!" Amy asked, worriedly.

Rouge sighed at her friend's lack of understanding, "You look more attractive to him! I mean you look more mature. Have you looked in the mirror and seen...well you-"

"Oh hush!" The pink hedgehog cut in. She was tired of blushing already!

The conversation pretty much continued around the subject of Sonic's recent eccentric behavior and what not before they finally reached the mall.

"Okay! Shoppinggggg time!" Amy sang out as she and Rouge opened the doors to the mall.

"And I think I already found my favorite store!" Rouge shouted out as she shot towards the jewelry store.

"Ugh Rouge! You and your weird love for jewelry…" She muttered as she ran after the speedy bat-girl.

* * *

"Next time, pay attention Tails!" Cream scolded as her and the fox exited the train that took them from Station Square to the Mystic Ruins.

"Hey, we were both next to the stupid grill! So you were just as responsible as me!" Tails shot back at the ticked bunny.

Despite their effort to take out the flaming grill, they failed horribly to the point that they were left with no food to enjoy. So here they were, minutes away from Tails workshop, aiming to hopefully get something to grub on.

"You know, I'm starting to notice something about you…" the fox trailed off calmly as they reached the front door to his workshop.

"And what's that?"

"That you love to argue with me. You never used to be like that," Tails sighed as he opened the front door and pushed the door open with his feet, seeing as how his hands were currently occupied with the portable grill.

Cream became flustered at her boyfriend's comment, "Uhh hehe I must have got that from Amy..." She stated quietly as she stared at her feet cutely.

"Ugh, I figured as much..." Tails said playfully as he dropped the grill in the kitchen, making a cluttering sound.

Cream smiled sweetly at the fox as she skipped playfully to the couch to watch some TV. Tails workshop has had some improvements over the years. He now actually had a living room with a kitchen, along with a second floor, which contained two separate rooms.

"Uhh Cream…" the orange fox slightly hollered as he scrambled through the fridge looking for food.

"Hmm?"

"Uhh, we have a problem…we don't have any food here…"

Just like the rabbit she was, she shot forward to the fox with bewilderment, "What do you mean we don't? I'm starving!" She whined.

Tails looked at the rabbit oddly, trying to figure out how she appeared near him so fast, before regaining his composure, "Sorry Cream, I swear we had a couple of crackers and cheese somewhere around here."

Cream made a face, letting him know what she thought of his joke. She sighed with defeat, returned to the couch and flopping on it.

"Don't worry, I'll go to the nearby store and grab something to eat! Let me get my jacket first since it is getting a little chilly." The fox stated as he made his way up the nearby stairs and rushed to his room, which was located on the left.

As he opened the door, he 'face-palmed' at what he saw before him. The blue hedgehog was sprawled on his bed, snoring loudly with an empty plate of food near his room counter. Lately, his blue friend was feeling kind of blue because Eggman hasn't attacked or done anything for months. While everyone else was enthralled about that, Sonic was anything but that. He has succumbed to laziness and does nothing but run around the city for hours on end before coming to HIS home and crash down on HIS bed. Tails sighed with frustration as he made his way toward his friend to awaken him. Though the fox understood that all his life he has been saving the world from Eggman, he told his blue friend as of recent that he can't just make his life center upon kicking egghead's butt. He needed to find a new hobby, like actually spending time with all his friends. Not just meet up with them for a few minutes and then speed off to God knows where. The orange fox was beginning to believe that his blue friend was anti-social. _Wait, what am I saying? He is anti-social..._

"Sonic! Get up!" Tails shouted with irritation, as he had been trying to wake up his friend calmly for about a minute now.

The fox's scream certainly jolted the blue blur up, as he looked left and right alarmingly. He quickly regained focus by rubbing the sand out of his eyes as he stared at the fuming two-tailed fox.

"Oh heh… morning buddy!" Sonic said sheepishly.

"Morning my butt, it's five-thirty in the evening!" the fox growled out, "And what I tell you about sleeping in my room! Go to the guest room on the right! That's why I made it for!"

"Heh okay buddy, sorry about that!" Sonic said defensively as he rolled off the bed and began to walk out of the room, but was stopped by the fox's voice.

"Hold it! Since you ate the last of the food here, why don't you head off to get me and Cream something to eat in Station Square! With that extra boost of speed you developed lately, you should be able to get that within seconds." Tails said, tossing the hedgehog his debit card that he picked up from the counter.

"No problem bro, I'll be back in a jif!"

And then he was gone. With all the running that Sonic's been doing lately, he's gotten even faster, which is something that Tails couldn't believe was even possible since he was already the fastest thing alive.

After he picked up the empty plate that his friend left, he made his way out of his room and then progressed down the stairs to come upon the second surprise of the day. Sonic was slouching on the couch quietly watching TV while Cream was in the kitchen grubbing away at the food that magically seemed to appear.

Sonic saw the shocked expression on his friend's face, which in turn caused him to smirk proudly, "What took you so long? Cream is already eating away!"

The fox blinked, clearly shocked.

* * *

"Sonic?" Tails called out as he typed away on his desktop computer. Cream, who sat a few feet away from him, watched him work with mild interest.

Having heard him, Sonic walked in his room with a bottle of water in hand. "What's up?"

Tails signaled the blue hedgehog to come closer to his desktop.

"I've been analyzing the Mystic Ruins forest through the satellite that I installed within that area and have found some strange energy disturbances…"

Sonic's interest spiked at the word 'disturbance' as he then looked at the radar currently displayed on the screen. Though it didn't show the actual forest, it showed wild energy readings.

"Whoa! The chaos energy seems to skyrocket as soon as you scroll a little to the center of the forest!"

Tails nodded before responding. "Yeah, from what I could gather from my data analysis, it looks like a rip through time and space happened not too long ago, but that's only one of the things that concern me…look here"

The orange fox scrolled and zoomed within the radar until he landed on a tiny flickering green dot.

"Isn't that a Chaos Emerald?! Let's go grab it before-"

Tails shook his head, "Hold up, that is indeed an emerald but what's strange about it is that its wave link properties are uhh completely reversed." He said as he pulled up the emerald's data on the screen.

"Really?! Well, let's go see what that's all about buddy! Maybe a new adventure is upon us!" Sonic hollered with excitement.

"But-"

"But nothing! I'm sick of nothin' happenin'! See-ya there pal!"

Without giving the fox a chance to respond, he zig-zagged out the lab, out the front door, determined to get to the Mystic Ruins as quickly as possible.

"Ugh! I hate it when he does that!" Tails said as he sat up quickly, heading to pick up the equipment he usually took when he went on an investigation. As he got all his things ready and was heading out the door, he noticed that Cream wasn't following.

"Cream! Come on!"

Cream, who was zoned out in her own world, snapped back to reality with a slight jump and ran towards her boyfriend.

"I wonder about you sometimes,"

Cream rolled her eyes at the fox's comment as they made their way to the mystical forest.

* * *

"What? Last time I remembered, this forest's exit was surly this way…" The trench coat wearing hedgehog said to himself as he saw that the ladder that leads up to the trolley cart was nowhere to be found. Instead in its place was a large bridge-like entrance that lead to an abandoned airship that looked like-

"The ETX Carrier?! I watched this thing blow up with my very eyes!"

Because the Egg Carrier looked exactly like the ETX Carrier, Sonic had confused his battle airship with the one in front of him. Deciding to investigate, Sonic strode to the control panel near the entrance, which happened to be covered with thick vines. He ripped off the green vines with little effort and punched in the access code, hoping that it was the same one as he remembered.

Releasing a soft rusty hissing sound, the panel accepted the passcode input and the entrance opened, though rather sluggishly. He walked in the revealed entrance and walked across the large wide bridge until he reached another door and opened that too.

Seeing as how everything was assembled the same way his own ship used to be, he arrived at the central control room in no time. He was now currently inspecting the surrounding area, hoping to find any information that would tell him of his whereabouts.

After minutes of searching, Sonic became fed up with all the useless machinery and headed to the place that he should have the moment he walked into this dusty abandoned base. The room that held the master computer.

Once in the room, he pushed the power button and waited for the computer to start…which never happened. He pressed it again and again nothing happened. After a third attempt, he roughly kicked it which got it to finally start operating.

"Why doesn't that surprise me…" Sonic muttered.

As the computer fully booted up and was now on the desktop, he looked through many files and folders, but only found thousands of useless concept arts of robots that looked like the ones Ivo used to create…before he killed him. He chuckled at his evil thoughts. He ran into many folders that were listed to have valuable information, but once he double-clicked them, he found them to be empty. He was just about ready to blast the damned thing out of pure frustration until he unexpectedly ran into a folder that was labeled, "Sonic and his annoying friend's bios (I hate that hedgehog!)"

Sonic's interest spiked at the folder's odd name and double-clicked it, hoping that it contained something useful; it did.

Sonic eyes widened at what he was seeing; an exact replica of himself except… he looked cheesy and happy looking.

"What the?!" Sonic didn't even finish his words as he read up on the information listed on the look-alike bio. Words couldn't describe how shocked, astonished, confused, and sickened he felt after reading what he just read.

"World hero! _Sonic_ the hedgehog!" It read in large, bold, and _underlined_ text letters.

"You have got to be shitting me!" He shouted with disgust in his voice.

However, as he clicked on the next display picture, his jaw literally hit the floor at what he saw.

His precious Rose was displayed giving 'the world's true blue hero' a bone-crushing hug, which he nervously returned.

Now he was sure that this was _not_ the world that he worked so hard to inflict fear into.

Apparently, in this world, everyone looked up to him.

Apparently, in this world, he was their hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was that? Good? Bad? Feedback would be greatly appreciated! I really want to improve on the fighting stuff, so maybe some pointer would help ^_^
> 
> But for those who only like to read anonymously, thanks for taking the time to read!
> 
> (Posted: 6/28/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	4. Doppelganger

* * *

**Doppelganger**

* * *

"Oh god…" Rose whispered as she stared off at the very top of the church and indeed saw that both Miles and Cream were tied tightly on the rather long lighting rod.

From where she was currently at, she couldn't see if they were conscious or not. However, she could see that the tan rabbit seemed to move a little every now and then but that could be just her own eyes wavering. She needed to do something fast before-

Before finishing her thoughts, a loud bolt of thunder struck the church, narrowly missing her friends. The pink hedgehog's heart skipped a beat at the close call. Knowing that that was a strong warning and most likely wouldn't get another, she looked around the surrounding grassy area and saw that firefighters and police officers were scattered around, helping those in need. She saw a few firefighters that _just_ noticed the two animals strapped on the lighting rod and went off to warn the others. _Ugh, this is ridiculous!_ she thought with annoyance.

The pink hedgehog growled with irritation as she witnessed the firefighters actually debating how to get them down. After a few seconds of their stupid time-wasting debate, Rose strode over to the lousy firefighters and pulled the closest one towards her, to gain his attention.

"Hey! My friends don't have all night you know! Get them down!" She demanded, with her arms crossed over her chest, covering the slight rip on her wedding dress.

The firefighter gave her a hapless look. "Uhh sorry miss for the wait but we don't know how to do that…" He responded dumbly.

At this point, the pink hedgehog's look of frustration turned to a look of astonishment, "What do you mean _we_ don't know?! Aren't you all trained for this?!" She shouted, pure rage evident in her jade eyes, making the firefighter flinch.

"W-we are but we currently don't have anything that could reach up that high…" The fireman dawdled off towards the end, which made Rose want to punch the man in the face.

With abrupt motion, the pink hedgehog turned from the fireman. Without a word more, she headed off, deciding that it was up to her to get her friends safely down or die trying.

As she walked towards the church she could have sworn she heard the man say that they would get a helicopter within the hour, but she waved him off in dismissal, knowing darn well that the weather was getting worse and her friends were losing time.

Without a second thought, Rose broke into a sprint, reaching the church entrance within seconds. She went up the few flights of stairs until she reached the tallest part of the church, which conveniently had a roof doorway. She hurriedly opened the door and just about fell off the roof when the howling wind tried to push her off. Regaining her composure, she looked above and saw the lighting rod and growled with frustration when she realized that she wasn't close enough. However, she could now at least make out the condition that her friends were in. The two-tailed fox looked beat but amazingly awake and fearless. He looked like he was whispering something.

The pink hedgehog looked a to her left and saw that on the other side of the lighting rod was a terrified rabbit, looking like she was staring death in her eyes. However, after a few seconds, Cream's eyes would refocus as her long bunny ears perked up slightly.

"Darn that blue _bastard_!" Rose spat venomously, her fists clutched tightly. How was she supposed to reach up there? The only option she had was to stupidly climb the rod but that would prove to be a difficult task seeing as how the clammy weather made the rod slippery and pretty much impossible to climb.

Tears of despair began to trickle from her eyes as she walked towards the lighting rod and gripped the base of it with both hands, not knowing what to do. If only she could use the power of the Chaos Emeralds like Shadow, she could use Chaos Control…

As if the gods heard her thoughts, a slight shimmering light flared from the golden bracelet that Shadow had given her after the wedding.

Rose looked at it with puzzlement.

All of a sudden, the bracelet was surround with greenish energy, which caused Rose's questioning gaze to turn to a look of amazement. "What in the world…" She trailed off as the cogs in her mind started turning with answers.

As the pink hedgehog returned her attention to the lightning rod, she shouted a familiar command with determination.

"Chaos Control!"

As soon as the command left her lips, she was surrounded with greenish energy before vanishing without a trace.

* * *

While Sonic raced through the Mystic Ruins with sound breaking speed, he abruptly stopped near the middle clearing. His once excited grin turned to a look of surprise at what he saw. From the looks of the rustled ground and trees, clearly some kind of battle recently happened.

As our blue hero took a few steps, he cringed suddenly as he felt an unpleasant queasy knot within his stomach, causing him to stumble back.

"Ugh… was it those hotdogs I ate…" he gasped out. However, he knew that really wasn't the case because along with the queasy feeling, he felt almost as if his energy and strength were being drained slowing. That and the fact that the hotdogs were nowhere near their expiration date.

Despite the unsettling feeling, he continued on to the crater he just noticed.

Once he was face to face with the crater, he stumbled again as the knot within his stomach intensified. He took a deep breath to help regain his composure and looked within the crater to get his second surprise of the day.

"S-Shadow? But how?!"

Indeed he saw the black and red hedgehog within the crater, unconscious. Sonic searched through his brain to try to put together just _how_ this was even possible. He saw Shadow falling to his death once they both defeated the Biolizard all those years ago. And as much as he wanted to save him at the time, he just couldn't because his energy was completely drained after that battle. Words couldn't describe how badly he beat himself up over the fact that he failed to save a life, especially one that helped him save the world. Sure they both were bitter rivals for the majority of that adventure, but in the end, they became friends. He would have loved to compete with the black hedgehog on a more friendly matter and that's what had further made his death depressing and hard on him.

Yet here he was, bruised and beaten…with a tuxedo? Huh?

At first, Sonic thought that maybe Shadow had tried to use Chaos Control while free falling towards Earth and somehow warped through time and space, landing where he was now. But that clearly doesn't explain why he would end up on Earth soil years later instead of as soon as he used the chaos command. He figured maybe that using Chaos Control at that time and place somehow caused a malfunction in the command, which then caused him to propel forward in time. Of course it all sounded crazy to him, but lots of odd things have happened time and time again with the emeralds so he never ruled anything out.

However, the freaking torn-up tux on the black hedgehog threw him off even more.

"There you are Sonic!" huffed out a breathless two-tailed fox as he halted next to him. The long-eared bunny arrived shortly after, equally exhausted.

As Tails finally took a good look at Sonic, he noticed that not only did he look confused, but he seemed to be in pain, sweating profoundly.

"Sonic? Are you okay?"

The blue hedgehog waved off his concerns with a forced smile, which his long time buddy undoubtedly saw through, "Uh heh I'm just fine!"

"Oh god! Tails! Look!" Cream, who had left her boyfriend's side just moments ago, pointed down the small crater, towards the unconscious black hedgehog. Unlike Sonic and Tails, she never met the red and black hedgehog so she clearly doesn't know who he is.

"Yeah… you might want to see this…" Sonic suggested as he dropped down to the battered hedgehog.

Tails expression became equally as shocked as Sonic's when he saw Shadow, the blue blur checking the black one's pulse to see if he was still alive. He released a breath of relief that he had been holding in as he felt a stable heart pulse. He was indeed alive, just out of it currently.

"He's alive Tails!" His statement caused the fox to smile excitedly.

"Great, let's get him to my workshop! I have all the medical essentials there!"

Despite his weakened state, Sonic was able to pick up the black hedgehog in his arms and jump up to higher ground, however not without stumbling upon landing.

As Tails' prepared to leave, our blue hero's voice caught his attention.

"Wait, buddy, did you forget the real reason why we came here in the first place?" Sonic inquired with a raised brow.

"Oh right! The emerald!" The fox exclaimed as he suddenly remembered and proceeded to bent to the ground on his knees before sliding his backpack off his shoulders. He hastily unzipped the pack and pulled out his unique Chaos Emerald radar and turned it on. As the screen of the radar flickered to life, he noticed that the emerald was really close by.

However, before the trio could head towards the emerald, time and space unexpected stopped, freezing everything in place. Just as sudden as it occurred, everything returned to motion once more.

"Huh? What was-" Tails trailed off as confusion overcame his face at what he saw before him.

Not only was Shadow face-first on the ground, still unconscious, but Sonic, who had been holding the knocked out hedgehog just now, was nowhere in sight. It's like he just disappeared out of thin air.

"T-Tails…What just h-happened?" Cream studdered out, clearly freaked out of her mind at the turn of events.

"I don't have a clue…"

Just when it felt like the dilemma they were in couldn't get worse, it did. When Tails looked at his radar he saw that the emerald that was within range moments before was also gone.

* * *

_Moments back…_

A black and blue blur hastily made its way out of the abandoned landed air-ship, heading deep within the mystical forest.

"Heh, my plan is ingenious! They won't even know what hit them!" The trench coat coated hedgehog exclaimed as he made twists and turns through the thick lush forest trees.

It truly was clever. The blue hedgehog had developed the plan solely with the information he discovered in that computer file on the abandoned carrier. He just couldn't believe his luck. Now, not only does he have a _fresh_ new world to rule over, but he could gain a certain pink hedgehog's love in the process and make her his forever.

After the blue hedgehog had read through the many files in that one folder, in the master computer, he put the information he just learned with the scrambled information in his brain and before he knew it, everything clicked in place like a puzzle. Sonic now _knew_ that he was not in the world he had grown up and wreaked havoc upon. He _knew_ that the struggle with Shadow had somehow caused a malfunction within the Chaos Emeralds while they were transforming into their super forms, which ultimately caused both of them to travel to another universe. A universe where, thankfully, the blasted black hedgehog was dead and has been dead for years. Unfortunately, the one from his world was here now but that would soon change.

In the mad hedgehog's opinion, he could do without many things that he learned in the computer. Not only is Ivo alive in this world, but the Master Emerald guardian along with his bat-girl are too. The two-tailed fox and the rabbit were here also, but they didn't concern him in the slightest. What pissed him off more than anything else was basically… _himself_ … no the Sonic of this world. He was a happy-go-lucky cheesy hedgehog that _loved_ to save the world on a daily bases. Not only that, but what added fuel to the fire was that he didn't even wear a trench coat! That hedgehog was _not_ him at all!

However, despite everything he hated of this world, there is one thing that made up for it; the Amy Rose of this world is in love with his counterpart. Since he is Sonic himself, all he needed to do was make that blue cheese-ball suddenly disappear and take his place permanently.

As he finally arrived within the area that he left the black hedgehog unconscious, he slid to an abrupt stop as a look of shock overcame his face before it changed to a nasty grin. He wasn't surprised to see that Shadow was still out cold from the beating he gave him not to long ago. However, he was baffled at the fact that the orange fox, tan rabbit along with the blue cheese-ball were already here. He saw his blue counterpart lift the black hedgehog over his shoulders before turning back towards the fox and continue to ramble about what they are going to do next. From the distance he currently was, he couldn't actually hear their conversation clearly. Just soft whispers. His eyebrow lifted as he saw the two-tailed fox slide his backpack off his shoulders and pull out a strange-looking device. The evil hedgehog grunted with annoyance when it became more obvious that he needed to get closer in order to get a better look.

Sonic strode quickly but sneakily towards his blue counterpart and his friends, but still remained hidden within the large bushes nearby. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the fox's device was exactly identical to the one that the fox brat from his world has.

_So that's how they became aware that the troublesome hedgehog was even out here…so that means…_

That's when something clicked within his head. That emerald that transported them to this world in the first place must also be here too. _But where?_

He scanned the area, determined to snatch that emerald before the others found it. He smirked nastily as he caught sight of a gleaming red jewel not too far from his doppelganger's group. He was already close enough to use the chaos control command so he took action. With a swing of his right hand, he froze time and space. He has to move fast since his command only lasts about twenty seconds.

Sonic sprinted past his 'twin' and his friends, heading directly to the red emerald. Once he arrived, he snatched the jewel and pocketed it within his trench coat and turned to the 'hero' version of himself. As he stared more and more at the self-righteous goody smile plastered across _his_ face, an uncontrollable rage began to roar within him. That's when he decided that he was going to get rid of this foolish hedgehog right _now_.

With less than ten seconds to spare he made a break towards the blue hedgehog, ripping the unconscious hedgehog off his shoulder, then tossing him to the ground like thrash. He socked his blue equal in the face before grabbing him by the neck and blasting off along with him to a place he could get rid of him quietly.

Seconds before the command depleted, he used the chaos control command, causing him and his 'twin' to vanish in mid-sprint.

* * *

With utter disgust, the trench-coated hedgehog tossed the other version of himself across the pavement, causing him to tumble and bounce before sliding to a stop, surely scraping an arm or leg.

An angry scowl formed across his face when he saw his doppelganger struggle to stand up. The mad hedgehog had no idea where exactly he had transported them to but he hoped it was somewhere where no one wondered around commonly. He aimed to dispatch this hedgehog to the pits of hell. Ah yes, _he_ would make this world tremble beneath his feet.

His 'cheesy' counterpart finally seemed to realize he was no longer in the mystical forest. He clutched his head in pain, most likely from the punch he delivered just before he warped them, a wave of nausea seemed to strike his stomach. After taking a moment of breather, his counterpart looked at him.

Our blue hero was not ready for what he saw.

Mere feet away, stood a blue hedgehog that looked exactly like him, except he had a black trench coat on, wavering smoothly as the restless wind blew around him. Our blue hero stared at the other hedgehog's face, trying to figure out how this was even possible. Whoever he was, he apparently disliked him strongly because he can feel his seething rage directed towards him, a small tight scowl accompanying his lips.

"Like what you see?" The trench-coated one sneered out.

Sonic snorted loudly, never removing his eyes from the other. "I see you got jokes!"

"Do I?" He chuckled deeply, sending a chill down Sonic's spine. This hedgehog… whoever he was, he was evil. He could see it in his eyes, the nasty gleam that radiated from his emerald orbs that were so much like his own. _Heh is that how I would look like if I was evil?_

After what seemed like hours, the darker version of Sonic spoke once more. "Confused? Here I'll put it simple…" He started.

"Apparently… I am YOU" He spat out as he continued. "Only from another world, universe, dimension, doesn't matter what way you put it".

"How did you-"

"Get here? That is irrelevant; the question you should be asking is that now that I am here, what am I going to do with you…" He paused briefly, then flashed the blue hero a twisted smirk. "It's quite simple… make you disappear and make this world mine…"

A powerful fist struck his heroic self across his cheek, sending him sprawling across the pavement.

_Man, he's fast…_ the good Sonic thought as he flipped back upon his feet, only to be attacked once more but this time he was ready. He countered his evil double angled kick with his right arm, using his free left arm to his advantage by striking him in the abdomen, making the trench-coated hedgehog grimace in pain. The world savior used this momentarily pause to his advantage by bringing a strong uppercut upon the other's chin, making his head snap upwards, then proceed to deliver a hard kick to the back of his head, sending him across the empty streets.

With his improved speed, the blue hero blasted toward the floored hedgehog with groundbreaking speed, surely shattering the sound barrier. As he arrived a few feet away from the other hedgehog, he used his previous speed boost and shot himself up in the air, everything becoming a blur before his eyes. While airborne, he did a front flip before spiraling down with a double kick, aiming for his double's head. Seconds before impact, the twisted blue hedgehog's eyes snapped open before rolling to the side, evading the blue hero's attack, as he then turned the side roll into a front flip, landing upright. The trench coat of the evil hedgehog fluttered in the air as he shot towards the blue hero's unprotected back. The hero saw his foe coming and performed a sidekick upon his arrival, but unfortunately missed as the evil one hastily moved away and grabbed the hero's presented back and put him into a chokehold.

"I must admit, you're good and much more agile then Shaddy-boy could ever be" The twisted hedgehog grunted out as he tightened his hold around the blue hero's neck, making him gurgle in pain as the stomach-churning feeling returned once more.

_Ugh, what the heck is causing this sickening feeling?_

As our blue hero felt his himself getting light-headed, he quickly used his remaining strength to grab the other hedgehog's hands and began to pray them from his aching neck, hoping to get air into his lungs. He was able to and with all his might lurched forward, causing the evil hedgehog to flip over him and land back first onto the pavement with a heavy thud.

_Whoa, that was close…_ the blue hero thought as he stroked his throbbing neck, greedily sucking in air back down his lungs. _This sickening feeling is impairing my ability to think and fight correctly too…_

As the evil version of our blue hero stood up, he dug his right hand into his trench coat's pocket, pulling out a gleaming red gem.

The blue hedgehog staggered back as the nauseating feeling became more potent.

"Is t-that a Chaos Emerald?" Sonic sputtered out, his knees became weaker as the other hedgehog walked closer.

With half-lidded eyes, he tried to focus and study the red emerald in the evil one's right hand as said hedgehog walked closer to him, that sick twisted smirk pasted on his lips.

The emerald…there is something odd about it. To our blue hero, it felt like a chaos emerald only…

Sonic groaned painfully as realization finally hit him.

_It's reversed…the chaos energy is reversed from the normal ones… it's not from this world…_ Sonic's legs finally gave out and he dropped down on his knees. _I have to g-get away from it… it's hurting me…_

The trench-coated hedgehog looked at the kneeling hedgehog with confusion. _What is wrong with him? Is he that weak already?_ He smirked with amusement and then laughed in a goading matter. As he stepped closer and held out his red emerald to finish him off, his double winced in pain as he fell backward on his bottom and began to sluggishly push himself back, still facing him.

The hedgehog from another universe cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out the nauseating and weak expression on his double's face. He grunted in annoyance, deciding that the reasons behind his double's sudden sick look were insignificant since he was going to end his pathetic life in a few seconds anyway.

With the red emerald clutched within his right hand tightly, it began to glow brightly with chaos energy before erupting into a glistering light green colored ball, surround his right hand.

"Now… to end your life with an attack that you most likely have never seen since I developed it myself!"

An evil laugh escaped his lips as he spoke again. "I like to call it Chaos Bolt…" As those words left his mouth, the small ball of green chaos energy became engulfed in electricity, sparkling brightly.

_I'm screwed…_ Sonic thought bitterly as a small regretful smile formed on his lips. _I'm gonna miss you Tails'…I regret that I never told you that you were like a younger brother to me. Cream…Knuckles, Rouge, you were all like the family I never had._

"Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog!" He shouted out with pure disgust and laughed madly as he launched his Chaos Bolt towards the remorseful blue hero.

Seconds before the attack struck Sonic, his final thoughts were of a certain pink hedgehog… and how he never got to tell her…

_I love you…_

As a brief explosion and static whizzing sound occurred, the hero and world savior, Sonic the Hedgehog was no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I forgot that Cream was introduced in Sonic Advance 2. Whoops. So I guess in Universe 1, this takes place years after Sonic Advance 2. Universe 14 is different, so it wouldn't have mattered there.
> 
> And come on, I wouldn't do that to Sonic...
> 
> (Posted: 6/29/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	5. You're Not Him?

* * *

**You’re Not _Him?_**

* * *

"Ugh…" He groaned wearily as stood up, his eyes fluttering open. He then took in his surroundings.

He saw nothing but darkness.

 _Okay… this isn't fair! After all the good deeds I did in my life,_ this _is where I end up going!_

The air in his lungs left him as panic settled in, causing his throat to dry and tighten. He looked at his hands and noticed that they were becoming clammy, his nervousness increasing ten folds.

Just as he was about to yell his distaste of being in such a dark place, he paused as the blackness turned into whiteness. _Heh…better than all dark…_

Within a blink of an eye, everything exploded into a blurry haze, forcing him to squeeze his eyes together due to the brightness that obscured his vision. He gritted his teeth when his ears starting to buzz, the unbearable ringing sound causing him nausea and dizziness. After several agonizing seconds, the ringing sound started to wind down, being replaced by breezing wind and loud murmurs of… people? _Huh?_

Cool wet drops of what felt like water kissed his skin, causing chills to roll down his spine. _Raindrops?_

As soon as those thoughts ran its course, a thunderous sound rung through his ears, making him jump. Looking left to right, he noticed that the world of nothingness had been replaced with a water drenched city. He saw people stop on the sidewalk, frozen with fear while others ran. The ones that stopped were gawking at him with their umbrellas held high, protecting them from the downpour of rain that seemingly came out of nowhere. _What the-_

"It's Robotnik! Run!" A man cried out, tossing his umbrella as he ran off to safety.

"What?! Where?" Sonic blurted out, looking left to right, preparing himself to deck the fat man if he saw him nearby wreaking havoc with one of his stupid inventions.

He heard a metallic ground shaking thud nearby, followed by many footsteps thumping on the pavement, causing the confused blue hedgehog to become, well even more confused.

His mouth hung low when he saw a giant robot with the words 'G.U.N Police Force' written across its side, aiming a large gun at his face, lock and loaded. Troops were also near the robot, ready to fire if necessary.

"Sonic Robotnik, we got you completely surround! Surrender now or we will be forced to take action!" A troop's voice that came from within the large robot's cockpit cried out.

"You've got to be joking!"

As those words left his mouth, he was gone. The alarms around the city of Station Square came to life as the giant two-legged robot opened fire, soon followed by the other G.U.N troopers. Seeing that Sonic had run off, the robot ceased fire, powered up its jet boosters on its hind legs, and shot off towards the escaping hedgehog with breakneck speed.

"Sonic R-Robotnik!?" Sonic said with disbelief as he increased his speed, determined to outrun the police force. "Since when did I inherit Eggman's last name?!"

Maybe he was in hell after all.

While blazing through the city at the speed of sound, his eyes widened as he felt a spike of Chaos energy not too far from where he was.

 _It feels like the Chaos Emeralds, only like the one with the stupid reversed energy signal. Oh man, this whole day has been bizarre since Tails found that stupid emerald…_ he thought, releasing a sigh. He hoped Tails and Cream were okay where ever there were. He was sure his sudden disappearance has them both freaked out.

As the chaos radiation was becoming more potent, further confirming that he was heading in the right direction, he moaned when he felt his stomach start to churn. At this point, our blue hero understood that his body just didn't get along with those reverse signaled emeralds.

His eyes widened when he saw a church in the distance. Suddenly, Sonic saw a burst of chaos energy erupt on the top of the church. He knew what that was just now.

Someone just used Chaos Control.

Determined to find out who just used the command, he increased his speed once more, almost appearing as a bright blue light in the naked eyes of others.

He never noticed that the whole time he was running past the streets of Station Square, a trail of electrifying light green energy left his feet before depleting out of view seconds later.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX Universe 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

With a flash of blinding light, Rose appeared high in the sky, gripping the lightening rod tightly, fear evident in her eyes. Okay so she didn't think this through properly and let adrenaline control her actions, but what was she supposed to do? Just watch her friends get fried by lightning? Over her dead body was she going to let that happen.

A small excited yelp was heard above her and she looked up and saw Cream staring at her with shock.

"Amy! Are you crazy!?" a young male voice hollered on the other side of the lightning rod.

"I wasn't just gonna let you both get barbequed up here!" The fiery pink hedgehog snapped back.

"So you wanted to join us?"

Rose growled. "Would you just shut-"

"Where's Shadow? Couldn't he have got us down?" Cream asked.

Rose frowned at the lack of confidence her friends had in her. However, the mentioning of her missing husband saddened her.

"He's… He's not i-important right now. Getting you both safely down is…" She replied as the howling wind, rain, and thunder could be heard, causing her grip to loosen.

As the pink hedgehog gulped down her nervousness, she reached up to the tight knot on the rope that strapped Miles and Cream to the lightening rod and began to pull and tug to see if she could loosen it up.

"Amy be-"

The fox's and rabbit's eyes widened as Rose lost her grip on the rod and began plummeting down, her screams ringing through both her friends' ears as they shouted her name.

Just as her life flashed before her eyes, truly believing that this was it right here, that she was going to die, her body came to a standstill as she landed into a pair of soft warm arms.

"I got you…" At the sound of a familiar voice, she tilted her head to look at her savior and froze when she locked eyes with _him_. She was _not_ expecting this. Never in a million years.

"S-Sonic?"

"The one and only!" He replied, his happy cheesy voice rolling naturally from his tongue.

As soon as the shock of being saved by the blue hedgehog wore off, she hastily shoved herself off of him, ending up spattering on the wet rooftop on her side, ruining her once beautiful white wedding dress even further.

Worry splashed across the blue hedgehog's face as he stepped forward to give the pink one his hand but she slapped it aside sharply, standing up on her own, giving Sonic a disgusted glare.

"Don't you dare touch me again you monster! Where is my husband!? What did you do to him?!"

Hurt spread on the blue hero's face, which in turn startled the pink hedgehog, but her angry expression didn't waver. Who was he trying to fool? This evil hedgehog had to have some kind of agenda to have saved her, didn't he? He has never saved her from anything before. Only caused her pain and suffering. However, as Rose continued to look at the blue hedgehog's expression, her eyes widened with disbelief. _I-Is that a tear?_

Sonic turned from Rose's angry glare, not wanting her to see how hurt he felt.

"I'm sorry…that you feel that way about me…" Rose could not believe what was being said by _him_. Not surprised as much by what he said, but _how_ he said it. There was no sarcasm or foulness behind his words. It sounded completely genuine.

He then turned his attention to the sky above looking at...

 _Oh god! I almost had forgotten about Miles and Cream!_ She thought with horror written on her face.

A gleam of determination appeared across Sonic's face before he spoke once more. "I'm gonna prove to you that I'm _not_ who you think I am!"

Before Rose could comment on that, our blue hero was gone. Apparently he had sprung towards the lightning rod. Sonic curled into a ball while in midair, forming his signature spin dash move. He aimed to slice right through the ropes that strapped the fox and rabbit tightly against the rod. Within seconds he made a nice clean cut between the fox and rabbit, thus setting them free. Our blue hero always thought before he acted…well in most cases. Right when he sliced through the ropes, he grabbed Cream's free hand and pulled her up with him, clutching her within his arms firmly.

"Tails fly!"

As soon as the two-tailed fox was free, he's eyes went wide as he began to plummet down the church, where a terrified Rose was watching. Panic snuck in as he got closer and closer to his death. Fortunately for the fox, the familiar voice that told him to fly made him throw his fear aside and take action. With all the strength he could muster, he forced his twin tails to twirl rapidly, causing him to take flight and slowly glide towards the church roof where a relief pink hedgehog awaited.

As Miles landed, Sonic soon joined him with Cream in his arms, the rabbit having a death grip on him. When our blue hero released the rabbit, he noticed that his feet were shining a strange bright green. After a few seconds, it faded. _Huh? Wha-_

A shriek stopped his musing and what he saw in front of him most definitely confused and shocked him.

Miles was staring at him with revolting eyes while Cream, the one screaming, had darted behind the fox seeking protection. Rose looked perplexed, trying to understand just what the hell was happening.

The young fox was the first to speak.

"I don't know what sickens me more." The fox started. "That you tied us up there in the first place or that you decided to save us afterward!"

"Tails it wasn't-"

"Save it you bastard! You're not fooling anyone!" Sonic cringed at the tone in the fox's voice. He's never heard his buddy talk like that before, especially to him. "And don't you _dare_ call me that!"

"Then what should I call you?"

Apparently that wasn't the right thing to say.

"Why you blue-"

"Miles stop…" Rose, who had been quietly observing, finally said. "He didn't know…"

A look of bewilderment formed across both the fox and rabbit, honestly believing that she had lost it. The pink hedgehog used their brief silence to her advantage and walked passed her startled friend, coming face to face with the blue hedgehog.

Rose wasn't stupid. She knew there was no way that this hedgehog could be Sonic Robotnik. First, she didn't get the gut-wrenching feeling she got when she was near him. He had a nicer, cool and relaxed like aura surrounding him. Secondly, he didn't have that evil disgusting smirk that was always plastered across _his_ lips. Though he currently looked confused, she believed that this hedgehog was capable of giving a genuine smile. Thirdly, he had warm and caring bright emerald eyes while _he_ had cold and uncaring ones, ones that could send chills down anyone who was daring enough to take a close look at them. And lastly and probably the most obvious, he wasn't wearing that stupid black trench coat. She swore that she has never seen him without that on.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she asked a question.

"You're not Sonic Robotnik are you?"

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX Universe 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

Amy sighed with disappointment as she locked the door to her apartment with a quick twist of her key. She was currently heading to the grocery store to restock on food seeing as how she had none for days now. She had been too lazy to do so before today since she had been content enough to just eat fast food. Because she was feeling a bit restless this sunny afternoon and had nothing to do, why not get the grocery shopping done and over with now?

However, this was not why she was upset. She was upset because her blue hedgehog hadn't come by this morning, which is odd as he usually always does. Even if just to say a simple hi, he always dropped by. She guessed that it was kind of their thing seeing as how since he starting doing it a few years back, he has never missed a day. Even when she thought he wasn't going to show up, he always did…except for today of course.

_Maybe something came up?_

The pink hedgehog began to run over the possibilities as to why her hedgehog didn't show up until she finally arrived near the entrance of the grocery store. Just as she was about to open the crystal clear door, an explosion occurred nearby, startling the female hedgehog. She quickly turned around and saw a giant…crab robot?

 _What? No way! Could it be?_ Amy thought as she quickly sprinted towards where all the destruction was happening.

Upon arriving at the scene, her eyes widened with surprise. In front of her was a robot that had Eggman's signature insignia plastered across its sides, which confirmed that the mad scientist had returned after months of absence. _Why didn't he stay gone for a while longer… or forever!_

The huge crab robot used its big metallic hand to clutch a moving vehicle and toss it across the street with a strong thrust of its arm. The airborne car came crashing down against a truck, causing it to explode, the cement that it contained inside spreading around the city.

As the robot picked up another car to use as its throwing toy, it stopped in mid-throw as it had noticed the annoyed pink hedgehog standing before it. A large TV monitor elevated from a slot that had opened from its flat head. When the screen powered on, Eggman's face appeared.

"Muhahahahaha! If it isn't Amy Rose! Glad to see that you have come to witness my returning debut!" The evil doctor said with a grin.

"Yay…I would never miss it." The pink hedgehog replied sarcastically, planting her hands on her curvy hips. "You do realize that whatever you are planning will fail right?"

The mad scientist's grins widen. "Ah but that is where you are wrong my pesky friend! I didn't spend months away for no reason! Oh no! I spent it plotting everything to perfection! There is no way I will fail this time!"

"And a giant crab thing is the best you could come up with?"

Eggman growled at the pink hedgehog's teasing tone. "Bah! I guess being around that blasted blue hedgehog has finally rubbed off on you hasn't it!"

Amy laughed. "Learned from the best, egghead!"

Seemed like the crab robot felt the doctor's anger because it stomped its crab-like feet as soon as the doctor snarled with anger.

"Enough you foolish girl! This is nothing more then what I said! This is just my returning debut, a how do you say? Ah yes! A sneak preview of what's to come! Merely an appetizer!"

Amy rolled her eyes.

Eggman had enough as another slot on the crab's flat head opened and released multiple smaller crabs.

As the small crab robots were launched at the pink hedgehog, she pulled out her Piko-Piko hammer and began to crush and smash the bots as they came.

Though Amy's fighting style remained the same, she did add a hit of elegance and grace to how she moved, attacked, and avoided assaults. At times, greenish energy swirled around her hammer, which signified that she was beginning to learn how to channel into her Chaos energy.

Amy grinned as she twirled around an incoming crab bot before smashing her hammer directly into another one that tried to take her by surprise from behind. She then swiftly did a spinning backflip over the previous crab robot and when she landed, she swung her hammer sideways, smashing right through its head with a powerful thud. Just as it seemed like she had everything under control, that she might not need her blue hero's help this time, things began to turn for the worse.

The crab robot just didn't stop coming. Sure she would destroy a few, but several more would be launched from the giant crab robot. She was starting to become worn out. _I can't do this any longer…_

Turns out she needed Sonic after all seeing how as soon as she realized this, her will to fight gave out, causing her to get smacked around by the small crab bots ferociously.

A black and blue blur saved her just before a crab went for the killing blow, slicing right through the robot, grabbing her within his arms and rushing off to safety

As the black and blue blur placed the pink hedgehog on her feet, he stopped briefly to flash her a fake cheesy grin and shot off to the mad scientist's crab robot.

This was wrong. All wrong. _His grin was fake and when did he start to wear a trench coat?_

She watched Sonic slam right into a large cluster of small crab robots, exploding them all upon impact. With speeds faster than her blue hedgehog, he gathered all the robots together and did a Sonic Wind attack around all of them. _Sonic Wind? More like a Super Wind! And whoa look at all that chaos energy surrounding that attack!_

The swirls of the bluish-green energy spun all the small robots as well as shredded them into many pieces. As the tornado faded, the pieces that were once hundreds of small robots landed on the concrete streets as rubbish.

Sonic halted right in the center of all the wrecked and mangled robots with a nasty grin.

Eggman's flabbergasted look nearly made Amy laugh.

"You troublesome hedgehog! I'll show y-"

He was silenced as the blue hedgehog darted right through the monitor, obliterating it. As the hedgehog landed, he shot off once more, however, this time directly into the right side of the huge crab-bot, exploding out of the other side. The crab-bot began to twitch and jerk rapidly as its doom was inevitable. Unable to contain itself, it burst loudly, joining the many pieces of its offsprings.

Amy stared wide-eyed at the blue hedgehog as he calmly walked towards her with his smothering emerald green orbs gazing deeply within hers. For some reason, as the blue hedgehog was making his way to her, she felt the tiny need to run away from him. _Something isn't right about him…_ the pink hedgehog thought, unconsciously taking a step back as he approached her, his trench coat flapping about. Her heart jumped when he enveloped her within his arms.

As emerald orbs burned into a pair of similar ones, the hedgehog stole our blue hero's first kiss from the pink hedgehog that he held dearly.

Unable to think clearly because she had wanted this for so long, she responded, instinctively taking all he was willing to give in that one kiss.

Once the shocking yet amazing kiss ended, Amy found herself leaning against the glass walls of the grocery store with her blue hedgehog nowhere to be seen.

Now far from view, Sonic stood on a building wearing a diabolical smirk, his eyes following the pink hedgehog, who sighed with content and confusingly walked into the grocery shop.

_Just as sweet as I imagined…_

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX Universe 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Sonic Robotnik?" When our blue hero repeated what the pink hedgehog just said, he gaged.

"That sounds awful! Why would I have such a last name, Ames?"

Rose couldn't help it. She giggled softly which not only surprised Miles and Cream, but herself too.

"Well, that's what YOU are known as here…"

The look of shock on our blue hero's face was simply priceless. "Well like I said earlier, I am NOT who you think I am! Where I'm from I'm known as Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog! The definition of a truuue blue hero!"

"I'm not seeing this…" Mumbled Miles.

"I think you are because I see it too…" Cream said, her jaw low.

Rose grinned. "Well… this is certainly new…"

Miles, who suddenly just remembered where they were, snapped at the pink hedgehog in a un-Tails like manner.

"You're believing this non-sense! This blue bastard tied me and Cream on the lightning rod! He wanted us dead and now he most likely pulled us down for shits and giggles!"

Rose, startled by her friend's outburst, responded. "Miles… when have you seen Sonic…so smiley? Take a look at that-" She pointed at Sonic. "Hedgehog and tell me that he's THE Sonic we know!"

Miles took a closer look at the blue hedgehog, cocked his head, and then responded. "Well, he does seem uhhh cheesy … really cheesy-"

"Yeah, like as cheesy as all the cheese crumbs on the bottom of a bag of Cheetos…" Cream added.

"Hey!"

"-But he could be faking it to-"

Rose waved at the fox in dismissal and faced Sonic. "Okay _Sonic_ …care to explain how you got here? Because something tells me that you are not from around here."

"Finally someone believes me! Thanks, Ames!" Relief flooded our blue hero as he winked at the pink hedgehog, which in turn caused her to blush.

"But before I start, can we go somewhere warmer? Sheesh, the weather around here is colder than I remember…" Sonic muttered as he started to walk towards the exit of the roof.

"Wait!" Cried out Rose as she rushed past the blue hedgehog, intercepting him. "You can't just barge down there! You are a wanted criminal here! You're not even supposed to be anywhere within this city! Especially since it was Shadow and…"She cut herself off, knowing she had already said too much.

"Your wedding day?" Sonic finished for her.

Rose's eyes widened. "How did you-"

"-Well for one, you are dressed in a wedding dress. Two, you just reminded me that I saw Shadow not long ago wearing a tux…"

Rose quickly grasped Sonic's arm. "You saw him? Is he okay?! Where did-"

An obnoxious cough interrupted the pink hedgehog.

"Okay, this is all too confusing! So let's all go somewhere more private and comfortable to figure out just what the hell is going on around here!" Miles said as he grabbed the quiet rabbit's wrist and tugged her towards the exit. "I'll check to see if the coast is clear…"

"Ahhh Miles! Let go!" Cream cried out as she tried to tug her arm lose from the fox's tight grip.

Miles, who noticed what he was doing, released her instantly, mumbled an apology as his cheeks exploded with a tint of pink. He then ran out of the door.

Cream blinked and rushed off towards the fox.

"Soooo I take it they are not together here yet, eh?"

"Yet?! What do you mean _yet_?"

Sonic signaled the pink hedgehog to follow him as he began walking towards the exit, however, he kept in mind that he needed Tails' to give the all-clear.

"Well something tells me that between the time I was fighting 'trenchy blue' and was running from the G.U.N troops, I somehow got transported to another world…and believe me when I say this, I'm no stranger when it comes to time travel…"

Rose sighed tiredly after hearing what the blue hedgehog said. His little explanation just brought more and more questions and well she wanted answers, not more questions. However, Rose couldn't help but smile at the realization that hit her.

Wherever this blue hedgehog came from, Miles and Cream were already a couple. Also, he had apparently seen Shadow, which means he's alive.

_Hopefully, things will turn out for the best…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor changes were made from the original. The title was also changed from "Evil Seduction (ugh)" to "You're Not Him?"
> 
> (Posted: 6/30/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	6. Untrustworthy

* * *

**_Untrustworthy_ **

* * *

"Ughh…my head…" a certain black and red striped hedgehog stirred as a hard pounding headache kicked in shortly after.

After several seconds of trying to regain his composure, he felt that it would be sufficient enough to open his eyes. However, what he saw before him was not what he was expecting; a large set of brown questioning eyes… looking directly at him.

"Dahhhhhhh!" Shadow shouted abruptly, flailing his hands wildly in the air, which in turn caused the brown eyes to widen with surprise.

Once he realized just who was looking at him, he relaxed and proceeding to put his head back down on the couch.

"Cream…didn't I tell you to _never_ do that again…"

The pre-teen bunny cocked her head in confusion, "I don't ever recall you telling me that since this is the first time I've ever met you…"

"Huh?" Once again shocked, he sat straight up on the sofa, this time actually looking at the unfamiliar environment.

"Wait here uhmmmm Mr. Shadow while I go get Tails and Mr. Knuckles…" The rabbit stated as she then hurried off to look for her two-tailed fox and red friend.

"Tails?! Since when does he like to be called-" He trailed off as he just took notice of the last person she named. "Knuckles?! But he's-"

Just then, said red echidna, followed closely by the fox and rabbit, walked into view.

"A-Alive?!" The black hedgehog looked at the red echidna with sheer astonishment.

Knuckles, who had his arms crossed over his chest, raised a brow at the flabbergasted hedgehog.

"Hmm, I should be asking you that." Knuckles then nodded towards his choice of clothing. "Nice tux by the way," he added.

This in turn caused the confused hedgehog to look down at the tux he wore… which was torn, burnt, and just pretty much trashed all over.

"Is it just me or does he _look_ like he came from some type of wedding?" Cream stated.

"Humph matter fact I was in one with R-" Just then he was once more interrupted by a certain pink hedgehog, who randomly barged right in Tail's home, smacking the door wide open.

"Oh my God, Tails, and Cream! You won't be…lieve?" Amy instantly took notice of the shocked black and red hedgehog before her.

"R-Rose?!"

"S-Shadow?!"

"Ohhh boy." Tails, who had been quiet the whole time, said with disbelief. "All this gawking sure is getting annoying…"

**XXXXxxxXXXX Breakpoint XXXXxxxXXXX**

"So you are saying that I'm not from around here… and that where I am at currently, is another universe?"

The red guardian was currently crouched a few feet away from the black hedgehog with the Master Emerald positioned right beside him; he gripped it tightly with concentration. He was trying to link the large emerald with the black hedgehog to gather any type of information.

Tails nodded in acknowledgment at the black hedgehog's little review, as he typed away on his laptop, "You apparently have the same wave link properties as of that of the emerald Sonic and I saw earlier. It's completely reversed! There is NO type of chaos energy in this world, that has reversed wave-link such as yours and that emerald!"

Shadow nodded, starting to understand little by little as he put the information he gathered with the information he already knew "And this Sonic that you speak of...you are friends with him?"

The two-tailed fox turned away from his laptop at Shadow's question. "Friends with him?! He's practically like a brother to me! Known him as long as I can remember!"

Shadow's heart seemed to drop harshly at Mile's answer. _That is what he would normally say about me…to hear him state that towards the blue hedgehog… disgust and hurts me at the same time…_ The black hedgehog quickly regained his composure when he reminded himself that this was NOT his world.

He silently glanced at the pink hedgehog that he was married to in another universe. When he first saw her barge right in the door, he was pretty much ready to run towards her because of the overwhelming feeling of relief he felt at seeing her alive and well. But he immediately realized that this pink hedgehog looked slightly younger than his. She still looked gorgeous of course but he's been with his Rose long enough to not be fooled. Besides, the way she uttered his name, it was out of pure confusion, not the happiness, relief, and love he was used to.

Amy, who hasn't said a word since she voiced Shadow's name earlier on, sat quietly on one of the nearby sofas. Truth be told, she wasn't currently comfortable since every now and then the black hedgehog would glance at her. It was honestly starting to freak her out. It wasn't that she had a problem with how Shadow looked…not at all. It has more to do with _how_ he glanced at her. _With_ _such love in his eyes…and disappointment?_ She pondered.

Knuckles sighed loud enough to draw everyone's attention towards him as he cut himself away from his connection with the Master Emerald. "He's definitely not the Shadow we knew. Not only does his body radiate recent universal travel energy waves, but as Tails said, that reverse chaos energy wave link is a dead giveaway. Also…" He paused for a few seconds as he stood up from his crouching position and proceeded to shrink the Master Emerald to its smaller form and pocket it.

"Something…how do I say this… something strange happened when I tried to directly connect with Shadow's chaos energy." Knuckles began which caught Tails and Shadow's attention. "It had the same reaction as it would have if I were to try to connect two positive or negative magnets together…"

"They pushed away from each other?! But in this case, it's basically your 'positive' wave link with Shadow's 'negative' wave link! It should attract!"

Knuckles shrugged at the fox's outburst, "That's the odd thing about it! Not only did his push mines away, but it made me kind of sick at the same time!"

The sick part seemed to have awakened a memory within the two-tailed fox, "Knuckles….when I last saw Sonic, before he had disappeared, he looked sick. In fact, he seemed to become sicker and sicker as we came closer and closer to that reversed emerald."

"Hmm, at least we can now understand that positive and negative chaos energy attraction is not a universal case."

"Uhhhh Knuckles, I don’t think this is how it-"

"Humph! Who cares! The point is that Shadow's is backward while ours is forward!"

"Or Shadow's is wrong and ours is right!" Cream chimed in.

Tails, Amy, and Shadow simultaneously sighed at the ridiculousness of good ol' Knucklehead's logic. Cream's input most certainly didn't help.

Knuckles never has been one to accept to be looked upon as an idiot so he decided to try to switch the subject to try to save some of his dignity. "Anyways, Shadow, why were you surprised to see me alive when you first saw me?"

Shadow sighed with a hint of sadness evident in his expression. "Well in my universe you along with Rouge were killed long ago by the one you call Sonic."

Everyone's eyes widen.

"He's called Sonic Robotnik…" A small snort from a certain fox was heard.

"B-But I don't understand how's that possible! Sonic is the world hero! He would never harm or kill anyone or anything in this world! Heck Eggman is still around and he's as evil as they come!" The pink hedgehog shouted defensively.

"Well, he's the exact opposite in my world. He's a murderer, a mad hedgehog who wants nothing more than absolute power and will stop at nothing until he gets what he wants. He's the reason why you all found me unconscious in the forest. He won that round….but I'll be ready for the next…" He clutched his right fist tightly in determination.

"You m-mean he's here!" The brown rabbit squealed loudly as she clutched her boyfriend's arm tightly.

"Yeah…I'm sure he still is…"

"By any case Shadow… uhh, he doesn't happen to wear a black trench coat." Amy asked quietly as she suddenly looked a little pale.

Shadow's eyes shot right open and he hurriedly rushed towards Amy, startling her.

"Yes! That is him! Unless yours wears a trench coat here also."

Tails snorted loudly at this, "You wouldn't catch Sonic dead with any type of clothing except his gloves and shoes!"

"Well, he uhh saved me earlier on today from Robotnik stupid robots. I mean I held my own for a while, but he quickly overwhelmed me. Oh yeah, which reminds me, Eggman finally has returned to torture us all!"

Knuckles chuckled at having Eggman and torture in the same sentence. "I heard about that earlier on. However, hearing that Sonic took care of it, I really thought nothing of it."

"Blah! Who really cares when that idiot came back! Everyone knew he was going to appear again one day! But Sonic disappearing suddenly without a trace then to appear in the city to save it…with a trench coat…yeah that sounds strange alright!" Tails said, slightly puzzled.

"Hey, Amy didn't you say that you had something to say to us? Something unbelievable?" Cream reminded.

"Oh uh ha-ha! About that! I was excited that after Sonic had saved me, he gave me the most mind-blowing kiss ever… yet it made me feel somewhat unease…but now that Shadow over here says that Sonic plus trench coat equal evil, I understand why I felt uneasy.”

A throbbing vein appeared across Shadow's forehead, clearly disliking that the blue hedgehog kissed Rose… even if she wasn't HIS Rose. His filthy hands shouldn't be on any version of Rose as far as he was concerned. He quickly waved off his anger and turned back towards the pink hedgehog. "Listen, Rose-" Shadow began but stopped abruptly when he noticed that Amy's cheeks looked slightly flushed.

"S-Sorry it's just that I find it weird that you call me by my last name instead of my first."

Now it was Shadow's turn to blush, however, his black fur made it hard to see of course. "Oh… it's just that in my world that's what I call you, just like I call 'Tails' Miles…" Shadow said. "Anyways, listen Amy there is something else you should know about the Sonic of my universe. He is completely obsessed with you and will do ANYTHING to have you. He has tried many times with the version of you of my universe, but fortunately, not only does she despise him as much as everyone else does, she is married to me now…"

This of course astonished everyone within the room once more.

"Whoa! That's a shocker! I'd think Sonic and Amy being together was a universal thing ha!" the wide-eyed fox blurted out.

Knuckles just smirked while Cream was as shocked as her boyfriend.

Amy was at this point completely flushed. "So that's why you have been uhh looking at me…strangely…" she laughed nervously.

"I have? Sorry about that…but with all things considered… you understand now don't you?"

Amy nodded with understanding, too embarrassed to say anything as of the moment.

"Sonic WILL try to use the fact that you already like 'him' to his advantage. All I'm saying is don't let your emotions get the best of you…" He then turned towards everyone else in the living room. "Same goes for all of you…"

Everyone in the room nodded, believing that Shadow was indeed trustable. Unfortunately for Amy, that kiss did a lot more than just please her, despite the uneasiness that came after. She has been literally waiting forever to get Sonic to kiss her like this 'evil' Sonic did. Even though she didn't realize it yet, she was already charmed by her blue hero’s doppelganger.

Shadow then looked at Tails. "Mil-err Tails can you check if you can locate that emerald that you found where you found me… the 'reverse' one?"

"Last time I did, it was gone without a trace. But I'll try again." He answered as he began heading towards his room upstairs, which was where he had last left the emerald radar.

Tails stopped mid-point on the stairs and hollered, "Hey Shadow… it's fine if it's easier for you to call me Miles."

Shadow's only answer to that was a small smile which caused the fox to give him a thumbs-up before heading to his destination.

**XXXXxxxXXXX Breakpoint XXXXxxxXXXX**

"I'm kind of bored…" The trench-coated hedgehog stated with pure boredom evident in his voice. He was currently lying slothfully on an extremely high leveled skyscraper.

The mad hedgehog found the happy go lucky city distasteful. He liked his city. The city he put work into wrecking, the city he used to make himself known across the whole world. The city that in essence, he had made his own.

"Well, let's start again shall we!" He shouted loudly as a short crackle of laugher followed after.

"First, let me get acquainted with this city again!" He hollered without a care in the world once more as he shrugged off his trench coat, making sure to grab the emerald he had pocketed earlier and let it loose in the wind.

And he jumped. Jumped off one of the highest buildings in the city. He took in the wind as it blew towards his face and body with such velocity. The adrenaline rush of danger, he loved it to the fullest. It was on the tip of his mind to expel a 'sample' of his power upon landing, but he told himself not yet and settled for clinging on the nearest pole-like headlight and sliding downwards to what would be a smooth landing.

Upon landing, he noticed that many citizens began to surround him. It was within his instinct to charge up and blast everyone in his way but he stopped himself when he saw that the people around him simply came to applause him. It kind of babbled him… such raw kindness and happiness directed towards him of all people. _No…not me…HIM!_ He thought with pure spite.

Sonic gave everyone near him a nasty look before blasting off from the circle of fame, making sure to shove one of the citizens' to the ground on the way out. _Foolish humans…_

Once in a clearer area, he pulled out the red emerald, gripped it tightly as he got himself prepared to yell the teleporting command.

"Chaos Control!" He commanded and it instantly responded by flickering brightly.

However, the results he received were in the form of a strong power surge shock, not teleportation.

"What is this?!" He roared with anger and slight pain. He took a glimpse at the emerald and raised an eyebrow upon inspection. _A crack? Is that why it failed to do the command?_ He thought.

Out of the blue, things started to make more sense than before. _This crack… of course! It must have developed while the black hedgehog and I were in that power struggle. So…_ he stopped in mid-thought as an uncontrollable crackle escaped his lips. _Do I have a potential universal-traveling device in my hand?!_

"This-THIS just gets better and better doesn't it!" He laughed out, feeling blessed in his mind.

With that said, he blasted off, leaving a trail of dust and wind behind.

**XXXXxxxXXXX Universe 14 XXXXxxxXXXX**

"Okay, it's all clear!" shouted the two-tailed fox as he and his rabbit friend began to gather the chaos emeralds that were scattered around the church's wedding area. Apparently the police had decided that leaving the emeralds there was a good idea. Maybe they were going to pick them up later for examination, who knows. But the orange-yellow fox sure as hell wasn't going to leave them here long enough to find out.

Rose stepped into view with our blue hero shortly following after. Unfortunately, for the blue hedgehog, this proved to be a mistake.

"Ughh!" He groaned in pain as the wave of nausea hit him full force. His face instantly turned pale as he kneed on the white floor below.

Rose instantly turned around and upon seeing the blue hedgehog panting in agony, she hurried to his side with a worried expression.

"What's wrong?!"

"I forgot…" He wheezed out. "Th-the emeralds… the one's f-from this world…they don't get along with me… Ughh!"

Miles and Cream, who were just staring at the blue hedgehog with surprise, quickly began to pack them all in a white bag they had found nearby.

Once the emeralds were bagged, Sonic sighed with relief. "Whoa… that was intense!" He said as exhaustion was clearly evident on his face.

"That was strange," Rose muttered softly as she helped the blue hedgehog to his shaky feet.

"Amy! Come quick!" Cream cried out as she rushed towards the pink hedgehog and grabbed her arm.

"What is it?" She asked, turning from Sonic to the bunny rabbit.

"There are only six emeralds! We can't find the other one!"

"What?!" Amy made sure our blue hero was okay to stand alone before rushing off with Cream towards the emeralds nearby. Unfortunately, their hasty retreat caused them to miss the shadowy figure that lurked behind the unaware blue hedgehog.

Rose looked within the white bag that was placed on the floor. Once she counted them, she looked at the rabbit with confusion. "Cream uhh they are _two_ missing, not one…"

Cream cocked her head slightly to the right. "How? Miles and I just-" She trailed off as she scanned the room for the two-tailed fox. "Where he go? Miles?"

"Miles! Don't!" a frantic female voice yelled out just then.

Too late.

"Ugh!" A pained voice echoed throughout the church.

The sneaky fox had somehow made his way behind the unsuspecting blue hedgehog and had decided that smashing the pointed end of one of the emerald's upside the hedgehog's head was within good reason.

A few drops of blood leaked on the floor as the weakened hedgehog could take no more and dropped towards the white floor, harshly.

"Why?! Why would you do that when you know that-"

"I don't care! He looks just like that _bastard_! So I for one don't trust him!" Miles snarled out with dislike as he turned his disgusted glare from the unconscious hedgehog to the heated jaded eyes of the pink hedgehog. Said hedgehog hastily ran towards the blue blur, to make sure he was okay.

"You idiot! You could have killed our only source of knowing where Shadow is!" Rose roared as her eyes began to water.

"He's only unconscious?" Miles questioned with slight disappointment.

"Y-You mean you met to kill him!?" Rose looked at the fox with pure disgust and disbelief.

The fox looked at his friend with emotionless cold eyes. "We could do without this _trash_! We'll find Shadow some other-"

His lips were silenced as a rather loud crackling slap hit him across his face. Amy stared at the fox and rabbit in amazement.

The fox clutched the right side of his face and winced upon contact. He looked at a pair of angry brown eyes with pure bafflement.

"Y-You thoughtless _asshole_! You let your hate for Sonic not only almost kill someone but-"

"You know he could have been-"

"Bullshit! _Shut up_! You saw it as MUCH as Rose and I did! This blue hedgehog-" She pointed towards the unconscious hedgehog to emphasize her point. "Is not that monster of a hedgehog we've always known! Don't let your hate turn you into what you're not! Don't!" Not being able to take it any longer, she gasped loudly as tears began to stream down from her eyes. Not knowing what else to do, she launched herself towards the shocked and unsuspected fox's arms. The fox luckily caught her but in the process ended up falling down on his bottom. He clutched her tightly as the whimpering sounds of his rabbit friend caused him to let several tears leak down his own cheeks.

Words couldn't describe how much of a monster he felt like right this moment.

"I’m sorry…” He whispered quietly as he dropped the emerald he had in hand and began to stroke the rabbit's soft ears. Cream nodded, tightening her hold on him.

"Can we even trust you around him?" Cream whispered.

Miles didn't respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took out a bunch of filler like things (I really don't know why I put it there in the first place) and improve the writing a little bit. This is sort of already looking better.
> 
> The chapter title was changed from "Morality" to "Untrustworthy" 
> 
> (Posted: 7/2/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	7. Endless Possibilities

* * *

**_Endless Possibilities_ **

* * *

****

“Guys! You’re not gonna believe this!”

The black hedgehog, who pondered deeply at the matter at hand, was broken out of his thoughts as the fox genius rushed down the stairs at an alarming rate. The abruptness also caused all eyes in the room to focus on the fox, except for Knuckles, who seemed to be in some kind of trance again.

“The weird emerald in heading at an incredible rate towards-”

“Angel Island!” Knuckles exclaimed.

“Wait! How did you-”

“You don’t think I know when MY Island is being attacked!” the echidna roared out, annoyed that the fox would ask him such a question.

“Attacked? But it’s not even there yet!”

“I don’t have time for this! Check your stupid device again!” said the short-tempered echidna before rushing towards the exit of the house. Before the others could say anything to stop him, it was too late. He was long gone.

“Hmph, just as stubborn as he was in my universe...” Shadow voiced with a frown as he stood from the couch.

As Tails looked at the Chaos Emerald radar he saw that the red echidna had been right, “He wasn’t lying! I said it was fast, but not fast enough to cross the city and Mystic Ruins in seconds!”

“It must be Sonic!” Amy interjected.

“At the speed, it was going, it is obvious that Sonic has it, just not the Sonic you’re all thinking about,” Shadow said as he then became interested in his right wrist, which was where his gold bracelet always rested on. The golden bracelet emitted a very dim burst of green light before settling down. _Damn… it hasn’t changed since I last used it! The battle with the hedgehog must have drained almost all of it._ _Guess Chaos Control is not an option now._

“I’m heading after Sonic to finish what we started…” The black hedgehog said firmly as he began to leave.

“I’m going too!” The pink hedgehog jumped in, which caused Shadow to stop near the exit.

“No. it’s too dangerous,” he said plainly with his back turned.

Amy gave the black hedgehog a nasty glare. “Listen here _Shadow_ , I’m not your wife, so you can NOT tell me what I can and can’t do! I’m going!” She said, her hands placed on her hips sternly.

A small snort escaped Shadow before he responded, “You sure sound and act like her though.”

Then he opened the door and left without a word more.

Amy huffed heatedly before she hastily made her way after the black and red hedgehog, determined to give him a piece of her mind. This left Tails and Cream, who oddly hasn’t said a thing for a while, alone.

“Well Cream, it’s just you and-“

Tails stopped himself there as he saw that Cream was sleeping soundlessly on the large sofa.

“Ugh! How can you sleep with all that is happening now?” He stated with aspiration as he made his way towards his lab to do some research and plot on what he could do to be helpful in anyway.

The tan bunny just smiled, sinking deeper into the couch. Maybe she was having a nice dream?

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

“Hmm it looks a little different than the one from my time.” Our blue hero’s darker side stated to himself as he screeched to a halt near the shrine of the Master Emerald.

He had already figured that the red echidna would not leave the large emerald by its lonesome. He also knew that with his arrival, it would bait the hot head all the way down here. He was, after all, acquainted with the echidna…before he killed him that is. He chuckled nastily at his thoughts. _Only a matter of time before the fool makes his appearance._

Sonic casually began to make his way towards the shrine until an unexpected feminine voice stopped him. 

“Sonic?”

_Well, that’s a voice I haven’t heard in a while…_

The blue anti-hero turned to the source of the voice, which so happened to be another victim he had taken the life of in another time.

“Bat- _girl_ ”

Rouge, a bit bewildered by not only his sudden appearance on the island but also the way he acknowledged her, returned the greeting with a questioning gaze. “What brings you to Angel Island?”

Rouge and Knuckles take turns patrolling the shrine, even when the huge emerald is not within the alter. A lot of thieves, researchers or scientists like to make sudden appearances in the island so it was usually the echidna’s job to not only escort random ‘visitors’ away from the shrine (usually by yelled and scaring them away) but also make sure that thieves don’t plant tracking devices around the island. Usually, he just left the emerald on the alter with a heavily powered shield around the whole island and It only allowed those he wishes to in. The former thief had certainly made his life easier.

“Oh, nothing…” He responded ‘innocently’, with a devilish glint visible in his jaded eyes “Just wanted to catch up with an old friend.”

Rouge was beginning to feel a little nervous, which is not common for the female bat. However being the tough individual she was, she would not show it; even as the blue hedgehog was making a smooth advancement towards her.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” He taunted ever so sweetly as he continued his slow advances, the batgirl unconsciously taking a step back.

Sonic smiled.

It looked _wrong._

Getting fed up with the hedgehog’s creepy actions, she pushed her fears aside and decided to make the first move with a running jump kick towards the twisted hedgehog. But of course, with speed that could break the sound barrier, he easily avoided the attack by blurring out of sight.

Rouge looked around with panic, desperately trying to locate the fast hedgehog. _What in the world has gotten into that hedgehog?! It’s like he’s completely someone else!_

How right was Rouge as he suddenly appeared behind her and proceeded to tightly grip her throat in a chokehold by using his right arm. The ex-criminal gasped in shock as he chuckled sweetly in one of her large ears. She began to thrash about, trying to frantically remove his hold on her throat.

“I will _sooo enjoy_ taking your life yet again…”

Rouge turned completely pale. A-a _gain?_

Just as he was about to snap her neck, a large white fist to his face put a stop to that. The sudden attack caused the hedgehog to relinquish his hold on the pale bat and send him flailing in the air before landing roughly on the grassy ground.

Knuckles made sure the blue hedgehog was down for a few seconds before turning his attention to the heavily flushed white bat, who was stroking her sore throat.

“You alright?” Knuckles asked the bat as he offered a hand to assist her, which she gladly took. He made sure to keep his sight on the blue hedgehog.

Rouge nodded with a forced smile as she finally regained her composure enough to speak. “Thanks to you,” Her forced smile then turned to a worried frown. “For a second there, I thought I was a goner…”

“Sorry I didn’t arrive sooner-”

“You mean you _knew_ he was heading here?!”

“Yeah. He is carrying an emerald so I was able to sense him heading here through the Master Emerald.”

Rouge glared at the blue hedgehog who seemed to finally regain consciousness and began to rise up. “Sheesh Knuckie, you really smashed his head in huh!”

Knuckles snorted, “Should have hammered him harder”

“Ohh such a sweetheart you are!” Rouge cooed smoothly as she blew her echidna a kiss.

Even though the echidna kept his gaze towards the twisted blue hedgehog, the slight pinkish taint on his fur proved that he had acknowledged the bat’s sweet talk.

“Heh isn’t he?” Sonic mocked as he regained his composure and stood at full height. Sonic frowned as he wiped the blood that trickled down the right side of his face. “Hey, _Knucklehead_! That wasn’t a nice way to greet an old friend was it?”

“Stop playing games! I know you’re not the Sonic from this world, so what do you want?”

“Heh seems like good old Shaddy-Boy has already informed his _pals_ ” He spat out with pure hate.

Rouge just looked utterly confused while Knuckles kept his guard up, waiting for the hedgehog’s next move.

“Alright then I will tell you what I want,” Sonic started as he pulled out the red emerald from his world. “I want the Master Emerald…”

“Not a chance”

“I wasn’t asking you echidna!” Sonic sneered out as he gripped the red emerald in his left hand tightly, slowing drawing energy from it. Electrifying chaos energy began to consume his right hand as he prepared an attack.

“Chaos…”

Knuckles eyes widen with shock as he felt the energy coming from the charging attack. “How is he drawing so much energy from one emerald?!”

“Bolt!” He hollered out as hurled the attack at them.

“Get down!” Knuckles warned the bat as he tackled Rouge down, away from the incoming attack.

The supercharged attack struck the area where the echidna and bat had once stood, leaving behind a large black charred crater. Once the smoke cleared, the red echidna took a glance at the blue hedgehog and noticed that he was breathing deeply. _Stupid move…_

Knuckles took the perfect opportunity to strike by quickly rushing towards the winded hedgehog. Once within reach, he gave the hedgehog a massive blow to the head, causing him to hit the ground face first. Seconds before the echidna could deliver another fist to the fallen hedgehog, his right hand shot up, catching the echidna’s fist. Sonic then used his foe as leverage to straighten himself upright. _That… a-attack shouldn’t have drained me so much_ Sonic thought bitterly as he struggled to overpower the echidna, _perhaps going after the Master Emerald wasn’t the brightest idea._

“If you’re anything like our Sonic, you would realize that a battle of strength is useless against me!” Knuckles growled out loudly as he shoved the hedgehog back a few inches.

As soon as the echidna felt the blue hedgehog slipping, he retracted his fist back and launched it right at his opponent’s face. Unfortunately for the red one, speed wasn’t his strongest point as the blue one used this to his advantage by ducking out of the way, thus saving his already battered face from another blow. With the echidna now unguarded, Sonic shot his open palm right in the center of Knuckle’s chest, propelling him backwards and knocking the wind out of him.

“You are beginning to get on my last nerve!” Sonic spat as he punched the echidna straight in the stomach, making him gasp loudly once more.

With a disgusted sneer spread across his face, Sonic hurriedly smashed and clutched the dazed guardian’s face with his right hand. Just then, an attack began to form in his right hand.

“Knuckles!” Rouge shouted, instantly realizing that he no longer had the situation in control.

“Hehehehaha! I’ll make sure you NEVER see again! _**Chaos Distortion**_!”

And Knuckles screamed; screamed louder than he ever had before. Words couldn’t describe just how much pain he felt. It was almost as if his eyes were burning from the inside out.

The evil hedgehog laughed in a sickening way as he put more energy into his attack, making the echidna scream more.

“NO! Let him go!” Rouge hollered angrily as she rushed to the echidna’s aid. Her sight becomes unclear as fresh tears invaded her emerald orbs.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX (U1) Moments Ago XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

Shadow had arrived near Angel Island only to find that the bridge to cross it was completely gone.

“Either Sonic wrecked it or Knuckles got rid of it” Shadow rambled to himself. There was no way to cross the bridge unless one had the ability to fly or glide and last time he checked, he couldn’t do either.

“Hmph, should have brought Miles with me…”

“Shadow! Wait up!” The pink one made her appearance present with her loud voice.

“You should have just stayed…” Shadow muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest, giving Amy a disappointed look.

“Hey don’t-“

A loud male scream erupted in the distance, catching both hedgehogs’ attention and fortunately saving Shadow from Amy’s angry rage rant.

“Th-that sounded like Knuckles!” the pink hedgehog spluttered out. “Oh god, I’ve never heard him scream like that before!”

“Shit! Not again! I won’t let _him_!”

Without another word, Shadow acted quickly by hastily grabbing the pink hedgehog around her waist with his left arm and began running towards the edge of the cliff that used to have the cross over bridge firmly placed.

“Whahh! Shadow! Are you crazy?! We’ll never make the jump!”

“That’s not going to stop me from trying!”

"Bu-but I don't want to die!"

"You wanted to come!"

Once he reached the ledge, he leaped. This idea was up there with the dumbest things he’s ever done, but the fear of not getting to the red echidna in time was clouding his mind. Amy had indeed been correct because as soon as they reached mid-way-point range they began to lose altitude and fast at that.

Through Amy’s rant of not wanting to die so young, Shadow felt a deep pulse erupt from within his body. _Huh?_ With wide eyes, Shadow glanced at his gold bracelet and noticed that it was completely charged. _Hmph, how convenient._

“Chaos Control!” Shadow hollered against the mighty wind and vanished with the screaming pink hedgehog held tightly.

Within seconds he reappeared behind Sonic in midair. Since Sonic was so occupied with torturing Knuckles, he failed to notice the black hedgehog’s right foot connect with the back of his head. The hit made the blue hedgehog release his hold on Knuckles and sent him skirting across the ground roughly.

Shadow placed Amy on the ground safely beside the red echidna and white bat, who arrived near him seconds ago, and blasted off towards the fallen blue hedgehog.

Once Shadow was within distance, he fired off his Chaos Spear attack at Sonic, who is now back on his two feet. With a fierce frown, Sonic dodged the incoming attack with a speedy sidestep.

“Interfering again I see! Wind Blade!” shouted the infuriated hedgehog as he fired off his own attack, which was basically the Sonic Wind attack compacted into one crescent blade of blue energy.

Shadow turned with rage as he evaded his enemy’s attack with a roll to the left before rushing to the blue hedgehog with determination. As the ebony hedgehog closed in on the blue one, Sonic continued to fire off his powerful Wind Blade attack both horizontally and vertically but to Sonic’s surprise, his enemy avoided every one of them.

Once within distance, Shadow hammered his right fist face first, causing the blue hedgehog to flinch backward in shock. Taking advantage of the situation, he sprung his left fist into the stunned hedgehog’s open kidney, forcing him into a sideways curl before delivering a strong uppercut to his chin. The black hedgehog grinned with satisfaction as a sickening crunching sound could be heard throughout Angel Island as Sonic soared right up into the open sky.

As Shadow stared at the airborne hedgehog, he charged up his special attack for a few seconds before firing it off.

“Chaos Spear!”

Just as the attack was literally inches away from striking its target, Sonic somehow regained his composure by curling up into his ball form, deflecting the attack successfully before shooting downwards towards the awaiting hedgehog below.

“Don’t pull such a foolish trick against me!” The black hedgehog shouted as he reared his right foot back. As the ball formed hedgehog closed in, the Shadow jumped upwards and trusted his foot forward, making full contact with the blue spinning ball. The blue hedgehog had indeed soared the skies again, but this time it was different.

He had vanished, nowhere to be seen.

“Huh? What the-”

The next thing he knew, he was the one airborne as Sonic had used Chaos Control while in mid-air to teleport behind Shadow and smash into his spine.

“I’m getting sick of these games Shadow!” Sonic roared out as his feet touched the ground and began to instantly charge his most destructive attack in his right palm “CHAAOSS!”

And he was gone again.

The twisted hedgehog had once more appeared behind Shadow, however, the same trick won’t work twice with the ebony hedgehog. As soon as Sonic let loose his Chaos Bolt attack, Shadow would attempt to deflect it by using all the chaos energy he had left into his palms, knowing that this particular bolt attack was intended to kill him and possibly pierce the island.

“Go to _Hell_!” Sonic hollered loudly as his attack grew with power, which made the other watching below cringe more at the fact that it _was_ their blue hedgehog’s voice yelling such profanity.

“Oh god! He’s mad!” Amy said fearfully.

Rouge turned her attention from the fight to Knuckles. He was kneeling down on the ground while he clutched his head slightly. Besides the burning pain within his eyes, he was in stable condition and only suffered slight bruising on his chest and ribs. Well, that’s not what the white bat had thought of his condition and she made sure to voice it.

“Knuxie… You really got the tar beaten out of you!”

The echidna grunted. “Gee thanks…”

“How are your eyes? Can you open them yet?”

He sighed slightly before shaking his head left and right. “Not yet and I don’t know if I-”

“Don’t you dare finish that you hear me? You _will_ see again!”

 _Sure hope so…_ he thought as he didn’t want to voice it, in fear that it might come true.

The bat and pink hedgehog gasped at the power illuminating from the blue hedgehog’s attack. Though it was only a little bigger in size than his usually bolt attacks, the amount of power being output is clearly evident seeing as how both hedgehogs were still afloat. Every small and medium object within reaching distance of the hedgehogs was literally being sucked in. It was almost as if the blue hedgehog had created a small center of gravity. One of the hedgehogs looked completed taken aback, somehow still managing to gather energy to deflect the attack that the blue hedgehog was inevitably going to release. However, from the amount of power that seemed to endlessly grow from his opponent's attack, he’s strongly starting to reconsider his own actions.

“H-How are you even doing this…” It sounded more like a statement then a question.

Sonic just chuckled. “Shadow… oh poor deluded Shaddy-boy…” He began which followed with more laughter. “Did it _ever occur_ to you just why I always seemed to have an edge over you?

The black hedgehog just cocked his head with confusion. _What the heck is he rambling about_?

“Think back to when I ended Knuckles and the batgirl lives from our time. You didn’t actually believe that the wonderful _Master Emerald_ just disappeared from existent as soon as the echidna died did you?”

 _What does he mean-_ seconds after those thoughts ran through his mind, he turned pale.

Before his very eyes, the large emerald that is the master and controller of the smaller seven appeared above the blue hedgehog’s head, overshadowing him with power. The Master Emerald looked foul, as its aura was completed drenched with pure negative energy. Its usual bright red color, unique from its own world, was now dark crimson.

“No way…” Shadow mumbled in pure astonishment. “You’ve had that all along!? Why reveal it now?! Doesn’t make sense!”

“I had to study it first! You can’t just take control of such an unlimited supply of power and expect to use it instantly. Oh no, in fact I still don’t know exactly how to use it to its fullest! Haven't scratched the surface! However, it is enough to end this fight; to end this non-sense that you call a rivalry once and for all!”

Shadow was utterly stunned. He never understood just how outclassed he was in this fight with Sonic until now.

“You never understood me did you Shaddy-boy? It was never as simple as world domination! Oh no, that was another person's dream, not mine! I aimed to have the absolute power of the whole universe! But with the recent turn of events, I now release that the possibilities are endless! Can you just imagine what it would be like to wield _two or more_ of these beautiful jewels? And to think, before I came to this universe I never thought such a thing was possible! Now I’m beginning to understand my true destiny in life!”

“You-you can’t even master the unlimited power of one Master Emerald! What makes you think you can master two or… _more!_? Damn you are more insane then I thought!“

“Aha! Now you’re getting it, aren’t you? I exist to make the impossible _possible!_ ” As soon as the mad blue hedgehog uttered said words, the master emerald above him began to spin rapidly, shining ever so brightly.

“ _Now bow down to your maker!”_ As the sudden green aura around Sonic became too great to hold, it burst with so much power that it knocked the black hedgehog straight towards the battered ground. Luckily, but sill wearily, Shadow landed on his two feet. The energy that he had been gathering in his hands was now gone.

“Shadow, we need to stop him from using that Master Emerald…” A voice made itself present behind the drained hedgehog.

“Knuc-”

“And before you even say it, because I’ve heard it enough from the others while you were in your fight, my other sense works just fine…” Shadow turned his head towards the red echidna behind him and sighed with regret.

“Ugh not you too…look I’ll deal with it but right now we have more important things to worry about.” He nodded his head towards the supercharged hedgehog above. Sonic wasn’t in his super form as his fur still remained blue, but his eyes shined differently as they replaced the normal emerald green color to piercing bright red.

“Hmph, if you could see me now you would notice that I don’t exactly have enough power to stop such an attack…” Shadow stated softly as he kneeled on the ground.

“I can _sense_ that, however, I got an idea.”

“Okay shoot…”

“Well I once fought a metallic version of Sonic and he did something similar. He would charge himself on the Master Emerald which would in turn give him a large dose of unlimited energy for a short period of time. He’d rinse and repeat until I bested him-”

“Pfft, Knuckles… comparing Sonic to one of Robotnik’s creations is ridiculous and any tactic you used on the thing would be useless against-”

“-Would you let me finish!” Knuckles hollered out, getting Shadow’s attention. He hated being interrupted in mid-sentence and this time was no different. “Anyways, I wasn’t telling you this to simply compare. I was telling you this because I want to use this technique on you.”

This took Shadow by surprise. “…have you ever tried this before?”

“No, but we don’t have much of a choice do we now?”

“Fine…”

With that said Knuckles retrieved his Master Emerald from his special place and increased it to its abnormally large size before placing it on the ground near Shadow and himself.

With Knuckles behind, Shadow turned his attention towards the supercharged hedgehog. H _e wasn’t kidding when he said that he wasn’t halfway in mastering the emerald. He’s taking forever to charge that attack…_

“Plan?”

“He’s a fool if he actually thinks that he could use the complete power of the Master Emerald. It’s not just power you have to have; it’s soul, body, and mind. He doesn’t have two of the three requirements. Anyways the plan is that as soon as he fires the attack, I’m gonna help you to deflect that back to him. Trust me; it is easier to release an attack of such magnitude than to absorb it.”

“What?! I thought we were gonna fire an atta-“

Knuckles confident grin caused Shadow to stop his rant. “Trust me.”

Shadow just nodded with a small smirk and prepared himself for what’s to come.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

Rose sighed apprehensively as she sat nearby the still unconscious blue hedgehog on the debris-covered tiled floor. Since neither the fox, rabbit or she could carry the blue hedgehog safely to Miles’s hideout all the way, the pink hedgehog asked the two tailed fox to head back to his hideout and retrieve the Hurricane, his plane, so that they could carry the unconscious hedgehog back more easily. Before Cream could say that she wanted to accompany him, the stressed hedgehog read her mind, not wanting him to go on his lonesome since the hideout was pretty far out. So here she was, alone, within the wrecked church, waiting as patiently as possible for their return.

Rose grimaced as she glanced at the unconscious hedgehog. _Darn, Miles must have really nailed him. He hasn’t shown any signs of regaining consciousness…_

Rose could understand the fox’s strong dislike for Sonic since she too felt the same way, with all the trouble he had caused for years. However, what she couldn’t understand was _why_ Miles couldn’t comprehend that this Sonic was _not the bastard_ that they all hate. Not only does he not walk, talk, or act like him, but the fact that he saved their lives proves supports the fact further. Overall the pink hedgehog was disgusted with Miles’s actions and will demand that the fox apologizes to Sonic once he is conscious. 

However, Miles's actions are not the source of her anxiety. Her nervousness was coming from the fact that she was sitting here, by herself with six of the seven Chaos Emeralds that the police had strangely forgotten. Maybe just _maybe_ it would have been a better idea to let the fox take the Emeralds back to the hideout but that’s Rose for you; always putting others before herself. I mean that’s what good people do right?

“Shadow…where are you when I need you the most…”

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"We have to hurry, I don’t like leaving her so unprotected with how things are now," the usually energetic rabbit said, worriedly.

"Yeah... I'm not sure it was a good idea to leave her alone with those Emeralds... Or _him..._ "

"Ohh don't you start again with that! We already discussed this!"

"If it were up to me, I'd just leave his ass to-"

"Miles... I'm warning you-" the rabbit threatened.

"Okay okay, I'll stop!" Miles replied, defensively.

This is how they interacted the whole way towards the train station on foot; having small legitimate conversations before stopping abruptly because an argument began to arise. Miles was way too stubborn for his own good and that is truly something both Rose and Cream disliked about him. Cream understood that, in his own weird way, the fox's intentions were good but his strongly questionable actions as of just recent were not. They all hated Sonic for he has done countless disgusting acts. One of the worst acts was when he took Knuckles and Rouge away from them. But Cream wasn't stupid, she knew that the fox's hate towards the blue hedgehog ran much deeper then everyone else's since the twisted hedgehog had murdered his parents when he was just a child. That pretty much scarred the poor two-tailed fox permanently.

As they both finally reached the train station that would deposit them at the Mystic Ruins, Cream signed with slight frustration as she took a seat next Miles on one of the many seats on the train.

Miles took notice of this and voiced it. “Ugh what’s wrong now?”

“You..”

“Me?”

The rabbit leaned her chin against her left hand with an upset expression before responding. “Yeah… I just wish that for once you’d stop and think about how some of your actions affect others around you…”

Miles stared off at nothing in particular but remained listening.

“Can’t you see the bigger picture? Shadow’s missing and since we haven’t bothered to ask Rose yet, we don’t know how but something bad must have happened since the whole church is wrecked…poor Rose.”

Miles finally showed some emotion as his eyes went downcast, his ears flattening.

The emotional rabbit cupped the fox’s face so he could focus on her, however, the fox refused to make eye contact. “This blue hedgehog… he’s not _him_ and if Rose and I can see that, so can you. Please put your stubbornness aside so we can figure out what is going on! If not for me but for yourself! I fear that if you keep like this, you’re going to turn into something you are not…”

As the fox decided to meet the rabbit’s eyes, his heart suddenly leaped towards his throat. _She really distressed about this…but as much as I hate it, I don’t feel a damn bit of regret for what I did…_ The fox cupped her face back and ran it around her cheeks affectionately. _But for you…I will try to understand._

The emotion radiating from the fox became so intense as he took notice at how beautiful his rabbit was. _My rabbit…_ his thoughts drifted off as he tilted her head sideways, her eyes becoming half-lidded with adoration.

That did it. The twin tailed fox last restraint was lost as he pulled the rabbit into a first powerful but emotional kiss.

As they slowly pulled away, secretly both not wanting the kiss to end just yet, the fox gave the rabbit a true smile; a smile that was only met for her eyes and her eyes only.

From the kiss to the look and smile, she understood what he couldn’t voice so she smiled a radiant smile; a smile that had the power to cause the fox’s heart to leap with joy.

When the train stopped at their destination, they both walked out with their hands linked together, their love for each other reaching new heights.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

**_Stomp_ **

**_Stomp_ **

At the abrupt noise, Rose, who had been dozing off, shook herself completely awake.

**_Thump. Crunch. Thud._ **

_Where the heck is that coming from?_ Rose thought, standing up. As she stretched her sore muscles out from being in an uncomfortable position for so long, she took a careful look at the still unconscious hedgehog that was inches away. She looked to her left to make sure the six emeralds were still safe. She then frowned as she looked between the blue hedgehog and the emeralds which were within the plastic bag they had placed them in. _I’m beginning to wonder if the emeralds are still having an effect on him even though the radiation is being blocked by the bag_. As she was about to take a look within the bag, the loud thumping sound outside became louder and that’s when the church began to rumble.

“T-that doesn’t sound good…” The pink hedgehog mumbled to herself, startled.

Just then an explosion erupted from the already poor ceiling above the church as crashing in came a giant bipedal red, green, and yellow-painted machine. Completely shocked, Rose looked at the large robot, noticing the bold painted letters on the sides of the machine.

**_G.U.N._ **

The sides of the robot’s slots opened smoothly as machine guns and rocket launchers became visible. Rose remained perfectly still as a bunch of gun-armed troops and small-sized robots dropped in through the hole the large bot had made moments ago.

“Sir, we have located the blue hedgehog and fortunate for us, he is unconscious. Should we capture him and bring him back to the base?” One of the troops voiced at his two-way radio.

Rose’s blood turned cold as she heard the reply.

“ ** _No. This hedgehog has caused us way too much trouble. As commander I demand that you terminate him by any means necessary.”_**

“Copy that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Removed some sentences that just sounded plain weird and a bunch of fluff words.
> 
> 9/12/2020
> 
> ~Gater~


	8. Light Pierces Darkness

* * *

**_Light Pierces Darkness_ **

* * *

With their gun’s all loaded, the troops were going to finish this as quickly as possible. If G.U.N. had learned anything from their past attempts at stopping the blue hedgehog it was that speed was everything.

The pink hedgehog, though utterly shaken, stepped forward, standing protectively in front of the comatose hedgehog.

“Wait! Don’t do this! He’s not who you all think he is!”

The leader troop snorted rather loudly at that comment. “Is that so? Last I heard, he was the only blue hedgehog known around these parts.”

“Uhh I can explain!” the pink one hastily chimed in

“Please do.” the leader shot back as he signaled his troops to keep their weapons at the ready. 

Slightly bewildered at the response, since she didn’t expect to have the time to explain, she hurriedly raddled her brain for a totally reasonable explanation that would prove that the hedgehog behind her is NOT Sonic Robotnik... but in fact another hedgehog from an alternate universe that is named Sonic the hedgehog. There was none. _Great…_

“Waiting for the logical reason and I’ve already given you more time then I should have.” The leader said, with a rather easygoing voice that certainly made the pink hedgehog believe he wasn’t taking her seriously.

“Well ahem uhh this hedgehog behind me is not Sonic Robotnik and the reason why he looks like him is that he’s from an alternative universe,” There. She said it. No matter how stupid it sounded.

“And let me guess, next you’re gonna tell me that in this ‘alternate land’ of which you speak of he’s a hero…”

“Actually…yes…heh” at this point, she was wringing fingers.

The leader sighs with displeasure clearly written upon his face. “Boys, light em up!”

“No!” Rose’s eyes widened, her emerald eyes shining with fear as she turned and covered her face, preparing herself for her death.

They released all fire at both helpless hedgehogs.

And that’s when it happened. The blue blur’s emerald green orbs shot open seconds before destruction and smoke littered the area.

As the troops waited for the debris and hazy smoke to clear, they heard a dark and slightly mischievous laugher throughout the wrecked church. It caused goosebumps to explode across everyone's skin.

“ **That was totally not cool**.…” A slightly deep but yet familiar voice spoke out.

Slightly shaken, the troops began wailing their guns around in a panic, aiming all over the place since the voice could be heard everywhere.

Suddenly, with an abrupt gust of wind, all the smoke before the troops became vacant. What they witness before them shocked them down to the core since they have never seen anything like it.

With the pink hedgehog’s quivering form in hand, stood a blackish-purple hedgehog with the most disgusted look on his face. Gone were the radiant green eyes as they now were replaced with nothing but whiteness. His irises were completely gone and the only thing left was the eerie glow of his pure white sclera.

“Th-the blue hedgehog has finally turned into the true demon he really is!!” one of the troops hollered, fear was clearly evident within his voice.

“FIRE! Fire again! Take him down!” the leader all but shouted as he too began letting loose bullets along with his men and bots.

Making sure that Rose was safely placed down, the all-powerful aura of Dark Sonic flared wildly as he viciously shot forward to the biggest G.U.N. bot there is, or more like _was_ as Sonic’s awesome power totally obliterated the giant into scrap-heap metal. One by one, even as the troops tried to defend or put a stop to the hedgehog, he flew straight through dozens of G.U.N machines easily.

Rose, who silently watched the whole matter taking place, began to wonder and have doubts. _What the heck brought this change in him? It’s like he’s completely different than before! Was my judgment wrong? Is this Sonic just as evil as the Sonic we all know?_

Throughout the whole ordeal, Sonic never failed to notice the look the pink hedgehog was giving him or more what he was doing. So he decided to stop and give his surrounding an overview.

“You see pink hedgehog?! He is no different than before! He’s the same devilish bastard he’s always been!” The leader troop began frantically. “Just that now he has shown his true form!”

The pink hedgehog gave the troop leader a defeated look as she too started to believe the unfortunate truth.

“ **I dunno, if that was true, shouldn’t you all be dead by now?** ” Sonic’s deep voice boomed out, shocking everyone.

No one was hurt except the robots. In fact, Sonic was so careful to not hurt any of the humans that he even took out the few troops that controlled some of the bots _before_ he wrecked them to pieces.

“ **Truth is you all have to face the facts. We all, I don’t care who you are, have this evil or darkness inside us.”** Sonic began as he sighed tensely and lowered his eyelids shut. His dark aura suddenly flared up once more, which caused everyone to become alarmed. Shortly after, the blackish-purple aura and fur color began to recede towards his hands like dark ink before it became just a pure black ball of energy. As Sonic eyelids snapped back open, his radiant emerald orbs were back in place along with his famous confidence smirk and of course his true blue fur. “It’s just a matter of having control over it heh!” He finished in his normal voice.

Rose’s expression turned from fear to confusion and then shock before finally turning into utter relief and joy.

As Sonic began to sweat from the pure concentration it took to condense the dark energy, he tensely but yet very skillfully began the process of converting the pure negative chaos energy into positive energy. The troops along with the leader and Rose looked in complete awe at what was taking place as the hovering blue hedgehog finally landed softly on his own two feet since he had been airborne for some time now; in his hands rested a beautiful glowing ball of energy that rivaled the sun itself in brightness.

Shortly after, the clear yellow energy unexpectedly shot towards everyone within the church, giving them a warm but entirely relaxing sensation within their bodies.

“Sir… I don’t know how to say this but…” one of the startled and shocked trooped began.

“I feel happy?” another troop finished which caused yet another troop to laugh joyfully. Some even started to sing and dance.

“Wh-What have you done?!” The leader voiced with a completely flabbergasted expression on his face. “You have turned all my top hardcore troops into a bunch of sissies!”

Rose, feeling a huge burst of joyous emotions, began to laugh and giggle softly as she sang and danced around the dismantled once beautiful wedding church. She occasionally would shout out to the world how much she loved Shadow and what not. Heck even going as far as grabbing a giddy troop and dancing along with him.

Throughout the whole time, even Sonic was amazed at what he was seeing. “Wow… you all must have been very stressed to react this way…” The blue hero stated with a priceless expression.

“What do you mean? Why don’t I feel that way?” questioned the leader troop.

Sonic stroked his chin thoughtfully before responding, “But you feel it a little right?” The leader nodded thus confirming his suspicions. “You must be the least stressed individual here sir heh! Either that or you are strong-willed in controlling your emotions. See I’ll give you a quick explanation! I turned my negative energy into positive and shot it out into everyone in here. Plain and simple, the more stressed you are, the more effective it will have on you! Neat trick huh? And don’t worry, it’s only temporary.”

“It’s wonderfuuuullllll!!!!” Rose cried out happily as she pulled yet another troop into a dance, which the troop had no problem agreeing to.

The leader troop sighed with aspiration which in turn caused Sonic to grin cheerily.

The one thing that worried the blue hero at this moment, though he didn’t show it, was just _what_ caused him to transform into his dark form in the first place.

The answer to his question was not only within the room but also shining brightly within a certain bag.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

“Oh god… Angel Island is turning to rubble!” Amy stated worriedly.

“Rubble? Soon there isn’t gonna _be_ an Island if he isn’t stopped!”

As all life around the usually peaceful island was slowly deteriorating, Knuckles began to sadden because he has never _felt_ the island crying for help like it was now. _He needs to be stopped now!_

“Get ready Shadow! He’s about to fire!” the red echidna’s heavy voice cut through the wind.

Shadow, who is currently trying to fight against the mighty wind to stay put, shifted his eyes slightly to his red ally. “Just waiting for you!”

With a quick nod, Knuckles began chanting the special words towards his emerald, which was firmly placed on the ground, that would assist him in his goals to stop the evil blue hedgehog in his tracks.

Not even a second later, the black hedgehog was showered and encased in an energy-powered aura and shield.

“Whoa…” He said with shock. "So much power!"

“Heh, you can say that’s a special gift to make sure you have enough it to counter Sonic’s attack!”

Shadow gave the red echidna a faint smile and with welcoming arms, accepted the extra power he was generously given. He then frowned at the blue one above as the thick tension in the air increased tenfold. 

“ **Say goodbye to your pathetic lives and this useless Island!”** hollered the supercharged hedgehog as he was finally entering into the final phase of his attack. To be frank, he himself didn’t believe that it would had taken this long to charge a full-powered Chaos Bolt. But then again, this _was_ the first time he actually pushed to utilize the most power he could from the Master Emerald. Sonic never has been as daring as today to use power that he didn’t fully understand. He always used small amounts from the giant emerald in fear that he would hurt himself if he pushed any harder, though he would never admit it. But today was different, today he had decided that humiliating Shadow wasn’t enough anymore and he _needed_ to die.

“ **Now _PERISH_ and _burnnn_ in helll!!” **he roared out as he fired full force at the hedgehog below.

As everything in its way turned into nothing, Shadow suddenly felt the full force of the attack for the first time. He felt the need to gasp because of the velocity at which the attack struck, but he didn’t. He held on admirably with his now extremely numb hands.

Sonic cackled madly at the fruitless attempt in deflecting his most powerful attack yet. “It’s noooo use! You WILL die here Shadow and guess what? You will not get to witness when I take your precious Rose and make her _mine!_ ” Oh gosh, Shadow never liked it when _he_ talked about _his_ Rose like that.

However, Sonic was so deluded in his excitement that he didn’t realize that his previous statement seriously pissed off the black and red hedgehog.

“And I will do it over and over and _over_ again!”

Knuckles, who of course heard everything, reacted to the blue one’s threats. “Shadow, don’t let him get to you!

With furious red orbs beaming directly at the reddish-green ones above, Shadow ignored his red friend and finally found the will to start the process of shutting up the bastard before him.

“And I will make her scream my name in pleasure!”

That did it. The twisted blue hedgehog should have learned from the past that you don’t anger an already pissed off Shadow.

“ _Fuck you_ …” 

Sonic finally shut his trap as he took notice that the tables were turning.

“Wh-what? This can’t beeee!”

“Uggghhh you talk too MUCH bull _shitttt_!” Shadow shouted furiously and with all his might, while holding the ball of energy with his left hand, cocked his bracelet clamped hand back before proceeded to thrust it against his foe’s attack.

Sonic’s eyes enlarged as the attack that he put so much power in was directed right back towards him and needless to say, it was bolting to him fast.

Sonic only had time to voice one word before his own attack crashed into him.

“NO!”

Amazingly the blue hedgehog was able to hold his place in the air for a while more then he should have as he tried with his all to either deflect it back or move out of the way, but of course it was useless. The red echidna’s statement from earlier was in fact proven correct.

“Th-This can’t be it!” These were his last words as the power of the attack he created began to literally shock and burn his skin simultaneously. In fact the force of the attack was so overwhelming that the large red emerald above him not only cracked but then shattered into pieces, blasting them to who knows where. 

Sonic’s left eye burst with electricity prior to being sent off to an unknown location.

As seconds passed and the wind currents finally settled, Rouge and Amy were at a loss of words at what they just witnessed.

“Ahem… that will teach him to miss with my island!” Knuckles broke the silence.

Shadow just smirked smugly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were...a lot of cringeworthy lines here...and there still is, but I decided to leave it since that would require me to rewrite more than I wanted too (freaking G.U.N shit is still pretty bad lol). Still is much better than before, now that I took out the worst ones. This is old and I guess instead of a huge rewrite, I'm more leaning towards a "tune-up".
> 
> 9/16/2020
> 
> ~Gater~


	9. Trust

* * *

**Trust**

* * *

_I can't go out like this…not after everything I have worked for…_

He gasped in sheer pain at his fail attempt at moving his sore and beaten muscles.

_I will_ not _let that hedgehog get the best of me…I will have what I desire…_

As he struggled again to pull himself together he grimaced and grunted in agony as he managed to finally crawl into a sitting position. With an aspirated breath of air, he uncurled himself from his sitting stance and began the unbearable first act of standing up by placing one of his mangles and burn legs on the soft moist earth dirt; bad move.

_Crack_

He screamed in absolute agony and frustration as he tumbled back on the muggy ground.

_So th-this is how it feels like… to be in true pain…_

The alternative version of our blue hero has never felt so much pain, humiliation, and frustration at the same time. He was always the one to cause it to others but today he finally got a taste of his own medicine _._

_Ugh to think that_ that _bastard hedgehog and echidna could disgrace me like this! With my own attack nonetheless! Ridiculous_ he thought with complete self-disgust.

As he laid there motionless for several minutes to regain his composure for another try at standing tall again, he decided to try something else he hasn't yet. Like open his eyes and see where exactly he had landed. He slowly tried to peel his eyelids open and to his surprise, succeeded. However, that could only be said for his right eye since his left one wasn't willing to budge apparently.

_Damn it, one is good enough for now anyway…_

As he focused his fuzzy vision to look around, he began to take in his surroundings slowly. As it always seemed like the default place to land in after a heated battle he found himself in a pure green leafy forest that was unfamiliar.

_Pftt! At least it isn't that wrenched forest everyone calls the Mystic Ruins…_

After minutes of scouting the area with his one open eye, he began to succumb to boredom then finally drowsiness. At this point, he already figured that he wasn't going anywhere. His lack of energy and strength was preventing him for moving at all.

_Guess I'll just sleep it off until I am fit to actually stand…_

With a deep exhausted sigh, he shut his eye to give in to the sleep his body craved. Once he surrendered to his slumber, the red alternative emerald from his world, which had been near him the whole time, began to pulse with pure energy that in seconds incased his form from head to toe.

A rare but relaxed smile graced his battered face.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Wow… that was incredible!" a G.U.N. troop exclaimed.

"I'll say! I've never felt anything like that before!" another troop agreed as he flopped on the dusty battered tiled floor.

"STRESS-FREE!" a bunch of troops hollered all together.

Sonic, who was still standing near the puzzled and amazed leader, smiled brightly at the scene before him. He always enjoyed helping others around him and he wished he could always enlighten people in the way he just did moments ago. Unfortunately, the blue hero knew what exactly that meant if he had the power to do so. Sonic frowned slightly at the next thoughts that drifted within his mind. He would have to be in an evil demonic mind set at all times. It's the _only_ way to always have the ability to channel and convert the negative energy to positive.

He couldn't take that chance of course. The fact that it even happened now bothered him.

Before the blue hedgehog could dwell on those thoughts any further, he was interrupted by the presence of a certain pink hedgehog, who was smiling ever so brightly at him. His heart fluttered up to the heavens before dropping back down like a useless piece of coal when realization flashed its ugly face. This wasn't _his_ pink angel. This was the one from this world, where she loved another. He needed to find a way back to _her_. _And I will_ he proclaimed. _That's a promise._

"That was amazing! You had me fooled for a second there you know…" Rose stated with a slight smile.

Sonic responded with a smile back. "I wasn't trying to fool anyone you know…"

Rose tilted her head to the side at the other hedgehog's response. "What do you mean?"

"What I did… it isn't always guaranteed you know. Because it's easy…easy to give in to such large amounts of negative energy…"

He didn't need to say more. Rose could clearly see it written on his face. The fear of losing himself, the fear of becoming something he's not.

Suddenly the blue hedgehog became alarmed as a dark presence seemed to appear out of nowhere. Where exactly he could not pin-point until the dark aura finally made itself present. The six remaining Chaos Emeralds began to hover ominously out of the bag they had been placed in.

This of course alarmed everyone within the battered church, especially Sonic and Rose.

"Ohhh man what now?!" The now irritated pink hedgehog burst out. This day was supposed to be magical! The beautiful day where she and her black and red knight in shining armor were to be united. Sure that happened, but then everything fell apart! Things have gone from extremely wonderful to a horrible nightmare in a matter of just hours. As if losing her black hedgehog to god knows where wasn't horrifying enough…

"I don't know, but brace yourself!" The blue hero voiced out as he prepared himself for what was to come.

He couldn't. Not for what happened. Faster than the blue blur could react, a wave of tremendously dark energy struck him full force in the chest, seeping inside his own person.

Rose's eyes widen with horror as she saw the dark energy being pumped into the blue hedgehog as he seemed to be struggling for control over something… or perhaps someone.

"I… understand now!" Sonic rasped out as he gripped his head, feeling extreme pain from the amount of dark chaos energy being forced into him. "But I won't let **YOU**!" He hollered out as he began to levitate while the dark energy coming from the six now tainted Chaos Emeralds continued to fight for control over the blue hedgehog.

Slowly the dark energy began to change the blue hedgehog's fur to the purplish-black ink once more.

The G.U.N troops along with their now fearful leader started to regret taking this hell of a mission on at this point.

Rose could only look on, hoping for the hedgehog to pull through like he did before.

Suddenly all-time seemed to stop as the blue hedgehog's conversion to his darker half was complete.

" **You want it?"** Dark Sonic's voice echoed out throughout the church once more. " **TOO BAD!! THIS IS MY BODY! YOU CAN’T HAVE IT!"** The ink colored hedgehog raged out loud with clutched fists as he began to _push_ the dark aura of energy out of his body, toward the tainted six emeralds. However, the emeralds seemed to have some kind of will themselves because they also pushed back.

As seconds turned to minutes, Sonic started to realize that the darn emeralds, for whatever reason, wouldn't give. They were almost completely consuming him and that's when our blue hero made a decision, which would have unknown consequences. Through the last amount of will power he had, he yelled out a certain black hedgehog's favorite command.

" **CHAOS CONTROL!"**

Pure bright green energy filled the entire church, blinding every individual present.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Uno! I win again!" shouted Amy, causing the black hedgehog to toss his cards on the ground with frustration.

"I've grown tired of this…"

"Only because you're losing!" The pink one taunted.

"As if…" Shadow snorted in response. Okay so maybe a small part of him cared that he had lost four games of UNO to Amy. But in all honestly, he only reduced himself to playing such a game because they were waiting until he had enough energy to Chaos Control Amy and himself from the floating island. If Knuckles wasn't so hurt and exhausted from the fight with Sonic, he would have at least been able to carry Amy across. Shadow of course told him to stop being a wussy and just do it but in truth he understood. The blue hedgehog had beaten the snot out of him and had attempted to blind him but to everyone's relief, he failed at that. Not too long ago Knuckles told them all that he was starting to regain some of his vision back. Shortly after he fell asleep near the Master Emerald's shrine since the worry of him becoming blind was now irrelevant.

Rouge had been beside the echidna at all times since the fight ended. The only time she moved was to retrieve a small pouch that contained different types of card games to play. She had tossed the card pouch towards the hedgehogs with a look of amusement. Apparently, Knuckles and her sometimes play with the cards as a means to waste time and not succumb to boredom...well it was more for the bat since he could quietly meditate all day.

"I win again!"

"Ugh the hell with this!" Losing this third game of go fish was the last straw for the black hedgehog. He tossed the cards in hand on the ground with determination as he then turned his attention to Rouge, who now was beginning to doze off while looking at the sunset.

"Rouge," Shadow called out calmly, the batgirl's sensitive ears easily picking up on it.

"I take it you're staying with him because it doesn't look like he's moving anytime soon."

She nodded. "I am. Knuckie and I will join you both later, but are you sure you have enough energy to make the jump?"

"I think I should be able too now"

"Think?" Amy and Rouge stated at once with questionable and alarming expressions.

"It's not that big of a jump…I should be able to teleport across with loudmouth over here."

"Hey! Watch it! You're just name-calling because you're a sore loser!"

Shadow just rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just come over here so we could get back to Miles workshop. Then from there, I'll rest up before trying to figure out just how I am going to return back to my world."

Shadow wasn't foolish enough to believe that the blue hedgehog was a goner. He knew that somehow _he_ had found a way to survive being blasted with his own attack. He also knew that the red emerald from his world had to be some kind of ticket back home. _With Rose…_ he added as an afterthought.

"No way! After last time, you have to be sure that we can make it across safely!"

"And we did! Your alive now aren't you?"

"Yeah but we almost didn't make it!" She huffed out with her arms crossed stubbornly and a cute pout to boot. "And on top of that, I almost had a heart attack!"

"Ugh I don't have to put up with this…Then stay, I'm leaving now." He growled out with annoyance before quickly making his way to the edge of the island.

He realized from the time he left the fox's workshop to now that this pink hedgehog was _nothing_ like _his_ wife. All this pink hedgehog does it whine and complain over everything. He didn't hate her. He didn't think he was capable of feeling that way toward someone who looked exactly like his wife. But that doesn't mean that he has to put up with her.

"WAIT!" shouted the pink hedgehog, causing the other hedgehog to stop seconds before making the jump.

Shadow turned towards Amy and frowned. He then raised a brow, urging her to say what she wanted.

Amy looked at him with honest guilt "I'm…I'm sorry I've been acting like such a brat towards you…" She began before walking in front of him and looking directly into his eyes with a small smile. "I should have more faith in you so if you say we can make it, I trust you…"

Shadow answered by turning away from her, which caused the pink hedgehog to frown because she thought he had rejected her apology. However, that frowns turned back into a smile as she heard him state for her to hold on tightly, which she hurriedly complied.

_Seems like she's not completely different after all_ he thought to himself with a tiny smile as she griped his waist firmly, which causing him to shiver in delight at the close contact. Amy unfortunately noticed this right away.

"Are you okay?"

Slightly flustered at his own reaction, he hastily responded. "Yeah… just that it's chilly here…" he lied.

Well, it wasn't exactly a lie since it was always cool on Angel Island… it just wasn't to him right now.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Amy! Amy! Get up! We gotta leave now!" Sonic urgently shook the pink hedgehog who had become temporarily disorientated from the sudden brightness that appeared moments ago.

As Rose began to refocus, the first thing she noticed was the extremely grim and nervous appearance of the hedgehog from another world. She then tilted her head slightly in puzzlement as she reached up and grasped the single lock of quill that hung loosely down the blue hedgehog's forehead. _Hmmm…_ That wasn't there before last she remembered. It must have become loose but why was it an odd ink purple color?

"Wh-What are you doing? Come on!" Sonic shouted hastily once more as he helped Rose onto her feet. However, it seemed that she was still pretty much out of it since her eyes remained with a half-lidded glazed expression. She began to lose focus once more but this time also lost her balance.

Sonic quickly caught her before she dropped to the shattered tiled floor. He winced in pain as she landed almost lifelessly within his arms. "Great… how am I supposed to save us both when one of my arms is pretty much useless?" He said to himself as he shifted most of Rose's weight towards his left good arm.

Sonic once more looked at the horrifying scene behind him. Many things had gone wrong in such a short amount of time. As soon as Sonic used Chaos Control out of desperation, some sort of bizarre chain reaction came about. He didn't understand much of what the hell happened but he managed to put a few things together:

First, the strange red emerald that Tails and he found in his world was linked to this world, seeing as how there are only six of the seven currently here. He put that together with the fact that not only are all colors of the emeralds here except the red one, but they make him feel sick just as the odd red one did.

Next was quite obvious to him. These emeralds are pissed that their red "sibling" is not part of this world anymore. He just couldn't really understand why his body didn't get along with the emeralds of this world in the first place. Negative chaos energy might have hurt him in the past but it never gave him this weird sick knot-twisting feeling in his stomach along with weakness and pain.

Lastly, what just happened moments ago… frighten him. These emeralds wanted to _take_ complete control over his body. He swore he heard the jewels hiss in his mind about _absolute control_ , _reunite lost one_ , and _own powerful vessel_. It made him shiver thinking about how they slithered the words with thick dark hisses. So when he heard the voices, he attempted to fight back and somehow take control of them just like he did with the ones from his world when he wanted to utilize their power. Bad idea because as soon as _they_ realized what he was trying to do, they became even angrier and used their full power from what it seemed. That's when he realized that if he didn't do something right at that moment, he was done for. So he used Chaos Control to escape the energy struggle. However, it didn't work instantly like it normally would once the command was voiced. It was a struggle to even do that. It was supposed to be an instant command! But nothing was simple today.

He somehow managed to force the command to work and it did...sort of. It expelled so much power that it blasted him straight towards the abused floor, thus possibly fracturing his right arm.

When the emeralds failed to accomplish their goal, they came to one conclusion. Destroy everything. And that they also did because currently Sonic, with Rose in hand, was standing on the last piece of church tiled floor. Hell, it was the last large piece of land for miles, seeing as how all that surrounded him was blazing hot flames and lava. There were many small pieces of platform hovering, scattered everywhere.

"Oh…my….god…"

"Heh… see you finally came back from wonderland Ames…"

Rose didn't say anything for a few seconds as she took in the scenery. It's like every natural disaster had hit full force at once! Earthquakes could be felt every few seconds and tornados can be seen miles away carrying debris from buildings that couldn't stand tall any longer. Eruptions could be heard and seen within the distances wrecking many once-solid streets. People… innocent civilians could be heard screaming for help until they fell to their own death.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming…this-this can't be happening…" Tears began to drop from her glistering emerald eyes as she finally lifted herself off Sonic's arms (much to his relief).

Sonic didn't know what to say. He was speechless at this point. But he did know one thing though. If they didn't get out of here soon-

_Rumble_

"Shit…"

Rose's eyes widened with fear.

_Crack_

"Amy…don't move…and listen carefully to me…"

_Crunch….Rumble…_

"On three…jump back in my arms-"

"But your right arm is-"

"Just do it! Trust me…"

Rose stared at Sonic's bright emerald orbs and saw complete determination. That's all it took. Something just clicked within her and in that instant, she believed. She believed that he was just as much as a hero as Shadow was. She decided there and then that she was going to trust this blue hedgehog with her life.

Unfortunately, there was not enough time for a countdown since the piece of land finally give out.

Thankfully, the pink hedgehog's instincts kicked in just in time and she jumped.

All Sonic had to do was catch her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mostly took unnecessary things out but left everything else as is. It's all good. Also, the title was changed from "Faith" to "Trust".


	10. Crisis

* * *

**Crisis**

* * *

As soon as he caught her, he winced as his hurt arm protested, however, he was able to put that aside and jump moments before the entire platform collapsed. While in mid-air, he briskly swung the nerve wrecked pink hedgehog over his left shoulder, causing her to grasp his waist and neck tightly from behind instinctually. Sonic had jumped pretty darn high seeing as how they were airborne longer than normal but then again, our blue hero was anything but normal. He was always able to perform miracles in the nick of time and now was no different.

Upon descendent, he immediately noticed a large metal pole that was rutted within a durable sized platform horizontally. The street sign post attached towards the end hung loosely, clearly only having seconds before it would give out. With a small burst of speed, he dropped down on top of the pole and proceeded to grind down smoothly until he reached its limit, not forgetting to grab the loose street post at the end. He then creatively used the street post as a scrap-board by stepping on top of it once he landed on a nearby wrecked slanted highway street. As he slid down the tilting and raddling highway skillfully, he constantly had to avoid the scorching flames that burst from the pavement. He made sure to sustain an evenly steady pace, turning left and right just moments before he could accidentally make an impact with pieces of wreckages nearby.

"Ohmygod-ohmygod-"

"Ugh, quit yelling' in my ears Ames, this isn't nearly as easy as I make it seem and your yell-"

"WATCH OUT!"

_*SMACK*_

And he skyrocketed off the platform he just dropped on, releasing the now hysterically shrieking pink hedgehog.

_Oh no! Noo!_ Though the impact with the small chunk of land hurt like crazy, he was too worried about Rose to care about it, but he wasn't so concern to the point that it blinded him from the flaming twister looming by. It appeared that God was still on his side though because he was able to grab hold of a damaged light pole that was wedged in between two adjacent skyscrapers. It groaned and screeched, warning the blue hedgehog that it couldn't hold together much longer. Just then he noticed a weird bluish-green aura surrounding him.

_Huh_?

Before he had any more time to ponder on the mysterious aura, he hastily looked forward when he heard a voice cry out in fear; there, before him, he saw the pink hedgehog holding on for dear life on the ledge of a wrecked and mangled piece of highway.

That's when he decided to put his faith in God's hand by releasing his hold on the light pole.

To his astonishment, he noticed that he didn't accompany the light pole, which had been yanked from the building and sucked into the flaming tornado. He instead fell down as if the powerful wind currents had no effect on him. Then, all of a sudden, the bluish-green aura that had encased him came to life, propelling him forward towards the panicking Rose.

_Holy Sh-!_

Sonic remained balanced while air-borne as he then collided with the startled pink hedgehog. As soon as he collected Rose, he quickly placed her on his back once more before coming in contact with a fairly sturdy platform below. He would stay alert in case any sudden trouble looms.

"You all right?" asked a slightly winded, but still intact Sonic.

Rose nodded with a small 'yes' as she buried her face deep within his furry quills on his back. After that, she said nothing more as she strengthened her hold on his waist, determined to stay attached to his form until they were on safe land. _Ugh if there is ANY_ she added as an afterthought.

"Oh shoot! I can't believe I forgot! What in the world happened to Tail err uh Miles and Cream?"

Rose became instantly alert. "Oh man! I had sent Miles to go fetch his plane, the Hurricane to pick us up once he kno y-err you fell unconscious…"

Just then all the pain he suffered during the past few hours became more apparent. With all that had been going on, he was able to put it all aside, the most painful ones being his fractured right arm, the throbbing headache he had from the piece of land that hit him mere minutes ago, and an odd sharp stinging sensation he felt on his head somewhere.

"He knocked me out didn't he…"

Rose sighed, knowing that lying usually made the end result much worse "He really doesn't trust you…"

"I'm not surprised…" he replied with a frown. His counterpart had an evil and plain ugly aura surrounding his being, his very soul. During their fight in his time, he saw it all too clearly as he looked directly into the set of eyes that were so identical to his own. He didn't give a damn about anyone but himself.

"If I were him, I'd knock me out too." He continued flatly.

"But still…"

Sonic signed heavily. He was tired. He just wants a long nap. "Hold on tight, We're getting the heck out of here!"

Rose did as she was told as Sonic jumped down, to the lowest platform available and ran.

Every so often he'd turn left or right to not come in contact with the loose debris that was afloat everywhere.

"Watch out! There’s a tornado carrying that car!" Rose warned, panicking as she eyed the vehicle heading toward them

Sonic slid right under said car, as it flew right over their heads.

“Darn it, the whole city is on fire…” the blue blur muttered.

As Sonic looked on ahead, he noticed that the platforms were giving out. If he didn't think of something fast, they were as good as gone. That's when it happened again.

His shoes and whole body was surrounded by that light green energy once more.

"Hold on _very_ tight, I'm gonna boost out of this!"

Rose did just that, practically squeezing him to death. "Let's go!" and he was off, boosting right off the last platform left, rocketing to the nearest platform….which was nowhere nearby… _crap_

"Down there!" Sonic looked towards the direction Rose was pointing to and aim for it. As soon as he landed on it, it began to give in so he acted quickly and sprung right off it, going airborne once more.

"Do you see any more pieces of land?" he asked urgently.

"Uhhh…N-No…"

"Ughh!"

"Rose!" a female voice yelled off in the distance.

Both airborne hedgehogs' ears jolted up as soon as they heard the cry.

"Look! It's Miles and Cream!" Rose cried out, while Sonic just smiled slightly, _Just like Tails to pull through when we needed him the most._ Miles and Cream were indeed in the distance flying in the Hurricane however, they were much too far to reach them in time.

"Sonic! Miles won't reach us in time so… I'm gonna try to Chaos Control us over there"

"Huh? We don't have a…"

"We're starting to fall!"

"So do it already!"

" **Chaoss**! **Controll**!" With a bright green twinkle, both of them vanished, only to reappear within the fox's reach seconds later.

"Gotcha!" Exclaimed Miles as he grasped the blue hedgehog's hand with Rose still holding on to him firmly. With all the strength he could muster, Miles pulled them in the plane, landing inside roughly.

"Thanks Miles, I thought we were goners…" Sonic said, breathing heavily while Rose nodded in agreement.

The fox responds with a tight smile. "My workshop is still intact, at least for now, so let's go there."

With that said, Cream moves over so Miles can take the wheel. "So… Are you two going to tell us what the hell is happening?"

"I'll tell you once we get to your place…" As soon as those words spewed out, Sonic passed out from exhaustion. The day had taken its toll on our blue hero.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

_Ugh…_ Our blue hero's counterpart groaned, finally regaining consciousness. He groaned again as he sat up into a kneeling position, feeling a soft fabric covered bunk bed. Upon opening both his eyes, he found out the shocking truth as to why he hasn't been able to see out of his left eye.

"The blasted fool not only robbed me of my power but also my eyesight!" He looked on the nearby mirror, which was adjacent to the bunk bed, and noticed that his left eye was no longer its usual green piercing color, but just pearly red-white.

With his one good eye, he looked around his environment only to find out that he was in some sort of base like lab… _strangely familiar_ one at that.

"Ah-ha! So I see you're awake!"

Sonic turned sharply toward the voice and seethed at the person he saw. _"You,"_

"I've been watching you for quite some time now and have realized that you're not from around _here_ as well as this emerald" Eggman stated as he flashed the emerald that was from another timeline. "What if I-urkk!"

That was enough. Just like he had to the Robotnik from his time, he choke slammed him against the metal wall, shutting him up.

"No what if's!" Sonic shouted. He then removed the emerald from Eggman’s now slack hand. "I will _not_ listen to you again! So stay out of my way or I will kill you just as I did in my timeline!"

" _You kill-killed me?!"_ Robotnik managed to rasp out.

Sonic grinned wickedly at his reaction, "Sure did! I wouldn't mind doing it again." With that, he dropped the gasping mad doctor flat on his butt.

"My my, you-you really are the complete opposite of the Sonic I know!"

"Hmph speaking of _your_ Sonic, he was pathetic! Killed him hours ago!"

Robotnik's eyes widen. "Impossible! That hedgehog _always_ finds a way to stay alive. So I refuse to believe that!"

The hedgehog shrugged. "Whatever, don’t believe me."

"Listen, what if we make a deal"

"Listening…"

"If my 'plan' fails you…you can kill me…"

Sonic raised a brow at that as it perked his interest. "Interesting. You have that much faith in your plan. What If we succeed?"

"The world is ours. Half and half!"

"No… I have much bigger plans, you can have this mudball planet. All I want is to destroy the rest of _Sonic_ 's friends here, along with _Shadow_ who has become fast buddies with them." Sonic stated while pacing back and forth. "If your plans can help me with that, then I'm willing to give it a try. Perhaps you're wiser than the old doctor in my time had been." Inwardly, he grinned. He had no intention to work with the idiot. _Though I doubt it, I’ll see if he’s useful and well if he isn’t.._

"Shadow?! Hmm, I did see him on one of my spy cameras!"

"Spy cameras?"

"How do you think I found out about you?"

"Point taken…" Sonic stopped pacing and sat back on the bunk bed. "Before you share your 'plans', Do you know somewhere decent I can grab a trench coat?"

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"You know, I'm starting to get really worried about our Sonic…" Tails started with a hit of melancholy. "I haven't seen him since he disappeared from the Mystic Ruins… which was at the time we found you, Shadow."

Shadow, who arrived along with Amy, not too long ago, shrugged clearly not knowing what to say to that. Amy, however, did look concerned. It wasn't like Sonic to vanish like this. He was always where the action took place and now was no different. So why was he missing? She surely hoped that nothing happened to him.

"You know, maybe it has to do with that cracked emerald from my time," Shadow spoke up this time. "I wouldn't be surprised if he got in contact with it and got warped to another world just like me and that bastard did."

"You think?"

"I take it that you know this Sonic as long as you can remember." Tails nodded to this. "So take it from there. If he's adventurous as I am, he wouldn't want to miss this, right." Tails nodded again, completely agreeing with the black hedgehog.

"Ah man then that could mean that you and Sonic could be lost in different timelines forever!"

"No… I don't believe so." Shadow responded, however, his expression didn't show his belief, but he had hope. "As long as the emerald from my time is around, there is still hope in getting everything back in order."

"Tails... can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah." Tails said, confused with the tone the black hedgehog used.

"Is there… is there a version of me in this timeline?"

"Yeah- well _was_ "

"So I'm dead here huh…was I one of the good guys?"

Tails pondered for a second. "In the beginning you were bad… but when we needed help the most, you helped, along with Sonic, save the world from the Space Colony Arc, which was in a collision course with the Earth at the time. It’s a long story"

This got Amy's attention too. "I remember his last words to me before he when and did that! First, he was mumbling about a promise or something from his past. After I asked what's wrong, he said, ' _I have to go now, I have to keep my promise to Maria… and You'._ I don't believe that Shadow was bad at all; he was just confused about his past since he was cryogenically-frozen for over 50 years. He was created by Doctor Gerald Robotnik."

"Someone hit the books huh" Tails teased. Amy was not amused.

"That's… weird and so different yet the same from me." Shadow was indeed in awe. He and his counterpart were very different.

"So… can you tell us a little about you?" Amy stated hopefully.

"Well, I was never created. My mother was named Maria. She passed away from cancer while I was at a young age. My father…I never knew him and don't care. I met Rose, your counterpart Amy, while I was traveling the world. Miles and Cream I met through Rose and the rest was history."

"Very Interesting!" Tails and Amy both exclaimed.

"Thanks…" Shadow mumbled, with a slight blush.

Cream, who just woke up, rubbed her eyes as she sat up from the couch she was lying on. "Whoah…that was the best nap ever!"

Tails grasp forehead, completely in disbelief, "Nap? You were out for over three hours!"

"Oops hehe." She giggled with a sheepish grin.

"Anyway, Tails you think we could find all the emeralds from this time?"

"Yeah, but why?"

"Because the Sonic of my world will be looking for them sooner or later. You have to understand Tails that he doesn't care about anyone but himself and will do anything to obtain absolute power." Shadow finished sternly.

"I should know," Amy said as a shiver ran down her spine.

"Fine, I'll go get the emerald radar!" the fox said as he quickly stood up and ran up to his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nod to Crisis City XD
> 
> (Posted: 10/5/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	11. Ruthless Destruction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Go on, read…

* * *

**Ruthless Destruction**

* * *

Sonic jolted awake, a look of puzzlement appearing on his face; however, he immediately regretted it as the glare of the lights stung his eyes, making him groan lightly. Shutting them briefly until his racing heart stabilized, he slowly opened his eyes again and proceeded to scout the area. He was in a home that looked similar to his fox buddy's… but why would he be…

Then the memories all came flooding back to him. He wasn't in his world. He was in an alternative universe. So putting two and two together, he figured that he was at his buddy's counterpart's household. Looking around again, he noticed that there wasn’t anyone here…at least that's what he had thought until he heard a noise that sounded strangely like a snort behind the couch he was on. He shifted carefully, knowing that his right arm was damaged. With his back leaned against the couch, he turned right and saw long threads of pink quills. _Amy…_ he thought, continuing to stare at the pink hedgehog. She currently had her eyes glued to a book, her legs neatly folded in a pretzel position. She had changed from her wedding dress to more casual wear, a red shirt and a pair of blue jeans with a fitting pair of white sneakers.

"See something you like?"

"Huh?"

"You keep staring at me." She said plainly as her focus remained on the book.

Our blue hero hurriedly turned away from her, blushing heavily.

His reaction made her smile, a burst of giggles slipping from her lips.

Sonic pouted "What's so funny?"

"You."

"Me? Why?"

"Because I've never seen _Sonic_ act the way you do. It's cute but also weird… and sort of creepy."

From what he’s seen from his counterpart, he couldn't agree more. That hedgehog acted so nasty that he was repulsed at seeing someone wearing his face look so… warped.

"I only saw him once and he looks like he has never experienced true joy in his life."

Rose sighed. "Oh he feels joy all the time, but it's usually only if others are in pain."

Sonic nodded, his face souring.

Just then his shoes began to glow a greenish-blue hue. Feeling the energy suddenly burst to life within, his feet started twitching.

"Why do they keep doing that?" the blue hedgehog mumbled.

"It's done that before?"

"Yup. Ever since I got here, strange things have been happening to me."

"I guess that explains the dark purple bang hanging loosely down your forehead." Rose gestured towards his head.

Sonic paled. "Mirror please! Mirror!"

"There is one on the wall behind the couch."

He quickly turned around and looked. To his shock, there was a bang on his forehead that was colored purple, the shade of Dark Sonic.

"It wasn't there before. It appeared after I woke up from unconsciousness." Rose stated.

"How weird…"

He slouched back down on the couch.

A painfully long and award pause followed.

"So uh how is she like me... the me from your world?"

Sonic smiled. "Well uh, she's a lot like you I guess. She used to be annoying when she was young though." He paused for a second before he continued. "Well, she does still whine, usually only when she wants my attention. But lately, she just stopped. I don't know why. Doesn't go chasing after me."

"Chasing after you?"

Sonic cleared his throat, suppressing a blush. "She used to uh chase me around as a hobby. She had a big uncontrollable crush on me... Wanting to m-marry me." He choked out at the end.

"She chased you? Sounds horrible!"

"Yeah it was... however she has changed since then. I stopped running away because she seemed to have given up or something. Thought that she just didn’t care anymore. This…after a while, it began to bother me. More than I liked it to. "

Rose smiled cutely, making the other hedgehog's stomach flutter. 'He’s seeing her in me. He's in love with her and the dolt doesn't even realize it.

"You like her.”

"W-what?"

Rose rolled her eyes. “You like her.”

He tilted his head sideways. "What do you mean? Of course, I like her! I like all my friends!"

“No, you like her more than a friend.”

"N-no! That can’t be right.” He was lying; he knew that.

"But it is.”

"No, it isn’t!"

“Yes, it is.”

“No, it’s not!”

“Then why are you getting so defensive?”

“Because!”

She shook her head. “That’s not even an answer.”

"Doesn’t have to be!” Sonic pouted, slouching more into the couch and crossing his arm, which he regretted since his arm is still injured. "Meanie." he spat childishly.

Rose giggled. She couldn't help it! She has quickly grown to like teasing him. 'His reactions are adorable!' She thought with a twitch of a smile. 'And to think that this could have been our world’s Sonic. But noooo we got stuck with the evil one instead.' She finished her thoughts bitterly.

"Anyways is she completely identical to me in appearance?"

Sonic answered instantly. "Not exactly...no… she has shorter hair than yours. Her bangs are shorter than yours. Her eyes are a dimmer shade of jade, while yours is a little on the brighter side. She’s a bit shorter than you and you seem to brush your long hair occasionally even when they're not in the way while she caresses hers to the side mindlessly."

Rose blinked in disbelief. "Oh boy, you got it bad!"

"I do not!" He blushed in denial.

She smiled radiantly, done teasing him. "Did you notice that your feet stopped glowing?"

He looked at his feet and saw that they did.

"You should ask Miles about that. He’s crazy smart dealing with Chaos energy."

"You flatter me.”

The hedgehogs turned to the source of the voice and saw the fox along with Cream.

"What were you both doing huh?" Rose asked, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Miles rolled his eyes at his friend’s suggestive expression. “I was trying to figure out how to stop the world from ending."

"Well, not the entire time." the rabbit chimed in, giving Rose a wink.

"So what's this about Chaos energy?" the fox asked the pink hedgehog.

Rose pointed toward Sonic.

"Oh right…him" He said, looking at him with disdain. Though he had become less resentful towards the blue hedgehog after his talk with Cream on the train, he still disliked him and refused to completely trust him. His rational side tells him he’s being ridiculous but despite that, he just couldn't get past the _look_ of _him_ and the sound of his damn voice. They were too similar yet different in the sense of personality. Seeing the stupid cheesy and carefree expression on the alternative hedgehog pissed him off! It's almost as if the evil hedgehog was taunting him through this one.

"Stop it!" Cream hissed, nudging Miles in the rib in an attempt to remove the heated glare he was directing to their guest.

Sonic shifted uncomfortably. These hateful looks of his buddy’s counterpart were killing him on the inside.

Miles mentally counted to ten before trusting himself to speak. "What's the problem?"

"Well ever since I arrived at this world, I've been feeling sudden bursts of Chaos energy flaring from my body. Though it has saved my hind here, it's uh getting worst. Do you remember when I helped get you and Cream down from the lightning pole above the church?"

"Yup."

"Right well that's how I was able to jump and roll so high without momentum. Since that point, a lot of Chaos energy is boiling inside me, almost like it wants to burst out. I didn't burn it all off until me and Ames were blasting out of the church. While we were running for our lives, I did this weird boost of energy thing that literally propelled me so fast that I instantly broke the sound barrier! It was ridiculous! Anyways that's what saved me and Ames because there is no way we could have escaped that otherwise." Sonic bit his bottom lip to suppress the urge to yelp when he moved his arm for a stretch.

"It was dislocated so I popped it back in place while you were out of it.” He said, referring to his arm. Not that he cared. He just had to ask, knowing that Cream would bite his head off for being inconsiderate. Oh and yes he was forced to pop the arm back into his socket.

"It's good, just slightly sore. But what do you think about the Chaos thing?"

"Well…" He began as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It sounds like… damn beats me!"

Sonic looked at the fox in disbelief. "What!?"

"But wait I'll be right back!" His voice faded out as he ran upstairs.

"What the hell kind of explanation is that? I could be dying here and he just leaves!"

"Relax he pulls that on Shadow all the time. He'll be back with the solution in a few." The pink hedgehog stated.

True to her word, the fox came not even seconds later with a grey device that looked very identical to the Chaos radar back home. It had a circular meter with a black arrow that could either point to low, mid, and high, in that order.

"Stand still," Miles ordered, pointing the antenna of the device at Sonic.

The meter burst to life as soon as it was aimed at Sonic, fluctuating wildly between mid and high. Then it stopped at high… before trying to go beyond its capabilities. It rumbled fiercely, beeping loudly as it became unstable. The fox's eyes widen before hastily shutting off the radar in fear that it would explode.

"Uh, that didn't sound good…" Sonic twitched nervously.

Miles blinked when he saw Sonic’s shoes glowing radiantly.

“Hmmm…do you feel like releasing that energy?"

Sonic huffed. "Yeah! However, I'd just end up falling into the ever grower pit of lava in the city! Crossing the ocean is a cakewalk though."

"Wouldn't that be nice…" Miles muttered, earning him a nudge in the ribs from the rabbit again. "I sent a micro-drone with a camera into the city and saw that the destruction was increasing but it's moving _away_ from the Mystic Ruins. I was trying to gather more information, but unfortunately, a damn piece of debris smashed my poor camera." Miles had a nagging feeling that something was deliberately protecting them and that something was the Chaos Emeralds. As to why it would do that he did not know.

"Anyways, I'll see if I could cook up something to help you with your Chaos energy problem." He walked away shortly after that, heading towards his room once more.

"I'll help!" Cream shouted out as she speedily followed after him.

“No! You’ll only distract me!”

“I promise I won’t…much.”

Rose placed a hand over her lips to try to contain a giggle as she watching Cream chase Miles.

"Aren't they a pair!"

Sonic smiled. “Yeah…”

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX Universe 1 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Uh-oh, we have a problem! A really bad one…"

Shadow, who had been leaning against the wall, opened his eyes. "What now? Also what took you so long?"

Tails and Cream looked pale.

"Tails? What's wrong?" Amy asked worriedly. She had been quietly watching TV while the fox went and retrieved the Emerald Radar. However, what was supposed to take him seconds turned in to minutes; twenty to be exact. Thank God the ebony hedgehog seemed to have the patience of a saint…for now at least. Sonic would have been squirming the whole time.

"The Emeralds… th-they are all in one place."

Amy gasped while Shadow just snorted. "That just makes it easier for us to acquire them all."

Tails shook his head rapidly. "No, the radar doesn’t reveal their location, just that they are all together!"

"Is it broken?"

"That's what I thought before but after about twenty minutes of research and analysis, everything I have and know-"Tails paused. "Everything points to the same conclusion; they are all together. I even took the radar apart and put it together and nothing!"

"Eggman?" Amy guessed.

"Could be but-"

Shadow erupted, his patients finally cracking. "I don't care! I don't give a rat's ass who has them! I'm tired of all this! I have two goals! Killing that hedgehog and going back to my time! You all can stand around if you want; I’m going out there and searching every damn place in this city until I find him." With that, Shadow stormed out the front door.

The fox and rabbit looked at the door in bafflement until Amy snapped them out of it by the sound of her voice.

"Come on! Let's go! Maybe if we go into the city, the radar will pick up its location." She opened the door and followed after Shadow.

Tails, not wasting any more time, grabbed the Emerald radar and put it in one of his satchels before heading out the door, closely followed by the long-eared rabbit.

* * *

"Shadow! Wait up!"

The black hedgehog heard Amy's request but didn't stop to acknowledge it. He was just so frustrated at his predicament and being cooped up in the fox's house was just adding fuel to the fire. He just _had_ to get out, even though he didn’t know where he was going. He looked at his Chaos energy bracelet and nodded when seeing that it was fully charged. _This should be enough to warp me to the city and then… I'll figure something out._

As Amy finally caught up to the ebony hedgehog, she spoke once more. "Where are you going?"

"To the city," Shadow replied simply. Shortly after that comment, the fox and rabbit caught up also, walking alongside the other two. "Okay here's how it's going to go. I am going to Chaos Control myself and one other person to the city."

"Why not all of us?" Cream asked.

"Because I can't." Shadow points to the bracelet on his right wrist. "This carries a charge of Chaos power, but since it's such a small amount, it only has enough power to carry me and one other person. I would be able to take all of you if I at least had two or more Emeralds." He finished.

Shortly after his explanation, the pink hedgehog gave him the puppy dog eyes.

Shadow sighed. "What do you both think?"

Tails sighed. "Take Amy, since she seems to want to go with you. Cream and I will take the train."

"Yay!" the pink one exclaimed as she quickly clutched Shadow's left arm. Shadow blushed profoundly. _This Rose is too clingy…_

"Okay then, we'll meet you both there!" Tails cried out while on the move with the rabbit.

Shadow turned to Amy briefly, smirking. "Hold on tightly Grabby."

"Grabby?"

"Yes." Before Amy could add her input on that, the black hedgehog yelled out the warping command, causing both of them to vanish from sight.

* * *

"Now where is a good store to steal from?" A certain wicked hedgehog muttered. He was looking for a trench coat in the city so then he could return to the doctor's base in the forest to discuss the 'master plan' he's concocted. He doubted it would be worth his time to even listen. _If I don't like it, he's a goner on the spot. Plain and simple._

"Ah, that one looks good." His eyes locked on a store on the corner of the downtown area. He looked through the glass window and smirked, liking what he saw; a blood-red colored trench coat clearly made of leather, hanging on a white stand. The price tag showed an astonishingly large number. One-thousand-two-hundred dollars. "Even if I had the money on me I wouldn't pay for it." Sonic snorted as he walked to the front door.

The entrance bell chiming softly, causing the man behind the counter to swiftly avert his eyes from the magazine he was reading, to the door. Upon seeing who it was, he smiled brightly as he arose to his feet from the black cushioned chair.

"Ah, Sonic! I must say, it’s odd seeing you here, but nevertheless, it is a welcoming surprise! What can I help you with today?" the man, known as Kevin from the neat writing on the name tag, asked eagerly.

Sonic tried to smile brightly, really he did, but failed miserably. "Oh, I just wanted to try on that trench coat there." He said, pointing at it.

Kevin gulped quietly as possible, trying to subdue his upraising nervousness from the look pasted on his face. "O-oh yes, that one just c-came in recently."

He briskly walked to the coat section and grabbed the one that would fit the hedgehog perfectly. He turned around, only to jump slightly at seeing that the blue hedgehog was right in front of him. Sweat began to lightly trail down his neck, sliding into his dress-shirt as he smiled forcefully. Sonic just smirked, enjoying the fear spilling from the man. "Al-alright then let me know how it feels."

"Sure." The hedgehog replied as Kevin slipped the coat around the hedgehog's back. Sonic smoothly slithered his arms into the sleeves and then grabbed the collar of the trench coat, pulling it tightly. _Perfect._

"How does it feel?" Kevin asked.

"Wonderful." His reply caused the man's nerves to reduce. "Thank you." He added.

Then he began to head out the front door.

The man panicked again. "H-hey! You forgot to pay Sonic!"

Sonic stopped. "Who said I was paying for this? I simply wanted to try it on."

"But-"

"Since I liked it, I've decided to take it with me." He continued to open the front door, the bell chiming on his way out.

"No way that could have been Sonic…he would never do something like this," Kevin whispered, rushing to grab his cell phone off the front counter and dialing nine-one-one.

Not even five minutes passed before he heard sirens blaring, echoing through the downtown area.

"Heh, looks like the party is about to start."

Just then a few police cars pulled nearby him. Two officers slipped out one of the vehicles, heading to the blue hedgehog to try to reason with him.

"What can I do for you officers?"

Both of the cops glanced at each other silently thinking the same thing. Is he for real?

"We got a call from one of the stores nearby that reported a robbery. The man said that it was you, Sonic." One of the officers explained.

"We didn't believe it at first, but here you are with the described trench coat." The other cop continued.

"So if you could just hand us back the coat and come with-"

Sonic cackled slightly. "Don't be ridiculous. I will do no such thing."

"Don't do this Sonic! We'll have to use force!”

"I dare you."

And he did…only to have Sonic clutch the cop's hand with one of his, twisting it forcefully, snapping it sideways. The cop howled in pain, using his other hand to grasps his broking one. The other officer attempted to grab the hedgehog also, but Sonic countered by stooping sideways, grappling his head tightly and smashing it off his knee. The officer fell straight down, unconscious.

"C-Call for back up!" The officer with the broken wrist hollered to his fellow cops in the vehicles.

Sonic laughed madly. "Back up! Good luck with that!" He shouted loudly before blasting off with ground shattering speed, aiming at one of the police cars. With sound speed, the hedgehog sliced it clean down the middle like a hot knife through butter. He came to a screeching halt, shifted sideways, and released a Chaos Bolt at the sliced vehicle, causing it to explode loudly, killing the cops within. "One."

He dashed towards one of the other cars and sprung into the air. His shadow reflected on the roof of the car like an eclipse before he dive-bombed upon it, demolishing it completely, killing another set of cops. "Two"

At this point more cop vehicles arrived, Sonic cackling manically from the mayhem he was causing. “JUST KEEP THEM COMING! IT’S JUST MORE FOR ME TO KILL!"

And then he was gone. The officers' closest to the one with the damaged arm, looked around in confusion. "Where the hell did he go?!"

Sounds of explosions echoed along with gunfire. The cops heard the manic hedgehog yell the number three while laughing, sending shivers down their spines.

"I think that answers your question, Ricky."

"He's… counting the number of cars he’s destroying!"

"This can't be Sonic!"

"It's not…" All cops turned towards the source of the voice. It turned out to be the officer with the broking wrist.

"Dick? How can you te-"

Dick groaned in pain before he responded. "His eye… the left one is completely clouded red, almost as if he's blind off that one."

"So he could have-"

"No, I don’t know who that is, but that is not Sonic.” Another eruption of scrapping metal echoed in the distance, causing all of them to flinch.

"He's right you know."

All of the officers swerved to the side and to their surprise, they saw a black and red hedgehog along with a pink one.

"S-Shadow? But you're-"

"There is no time to explain just listen. Call ALL of your officers and tell them to retreat. You’re all just going to get killed."

The pink hedgehog covered her mouth in disbelief "I can't believe he's able to walk after that blast he was hit with! He's killing them all! Look at this mess."

Shadow growled out in anger as he shot towards Sonic’s direction.

"I'll come and help!"

"The hell you will!" Shadow shouted behind him "Stay put and wait for the fox and rabbit." He finished before leaving.

Amy did what she was told… for the time being. _I'm joining you whether you like it or not._

Little did she know, her meddling will be one of the biggest mistakes of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dialogue and paragraph changes were made. There were also many sentences that were removed because they were awkwardly written, confusing even me. 
> 
> Also, the Chapter title was changed from “Devastation” to “Ruthless Destruction”.
> 
> I should be posting these a lot faster now since I finally managed to get around most of the changes I wanted to make. And oh boy, there were a lot of changes in the later chapters. So I hope some of my readers didn't go to fanfic to read it all (I know, waiting sucks, so I know some said screw it and went on to finish it. I know I took much too long. Oh well, it can't be helped.) But there is something 'special' by the end of this story, which won't be on fanfic. It might cause conflict with the other one.
> 
> Later!
> 
> (Posted: 12/11/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	12. Soul Corruption

* * *

**Soul Corruption**

* * *

"Forty!" The blue hedgehog shouted as he laughed hysterically. "Maybe I could pass my record of fifty before I get bored!" He finished as he crushed yet another car with a powerful headfirst dive.

"Not likely." A new voice entered in.

Sonic head turned. "Ah, Shaddy-boy! I'm so _happy_ to see you!"

"Sorry, the feeling's not mutual."

Sonic chuckled at this. "Like my new trench coat?"

Shadow snorted. "So that's why you caused all this?" he said, gesturing to all the massacre. "Because of a damn coat!?”

Sonic frowned deeply at the comment. "This wouldn't have happened if they just stayed out of my way!"

"You would have done it anyway."

Sonic grinned manically "Ehh your right."

"You sick bastard!" Shadow hissed.

He grinned.

Growling deeply, Shadow rushed toward Sonic with neck-breaking speed.

“Let’s dance!”

They clashed.

* * *

Amy waited impatiently for Tails and Cream. "Where are they!?"

At this point all the cops disappeared from the scene except Ricky and Dick, the latter having his wrist treated by the medics that had arrived in an ambulance truck.

Just then Amy saw the fox and rabbit...along with Knuckle and Rouge.

“Sorry, we took so long. The train was very busy. But hey we bumped into these two on the way!" Tailed said.

"Knuckles! You can see!" Amy exclaimed happily.

The echidna smiled slightly. "Yeah, and boy does it feel good. Anyways what's all this mess about?"

"Oh my!" the bat gasped, scanning the area.

"Sonic…" Amy’s shoulders drooped.

Of course, they immediately knew what Sonic it was.

"Why am I not surprised…" Rouge said, shaking her head.

Knuckles sighed. "I'm not too surprised that he is considering that Shadow clearly told us that he most likely is alive. However, I didn’t expect such a fast recovery."

Tails sucked in a breath sharply, suddenly filled with worry. "Shadow's down there fighting isn't he."

"Yeah…" replied Amy, gloomily.

* * *

"What's wrong _Shadow_?" he drawled out as he kneed the black hedgehog, causing him to gasp in pain. "Still tired from our fight, which was like ages ago!?"

Shadow groaned softly as he fell on one knee. "H-how did you recover so quickly?"

"Uh-ah-uh." Sonic taunted. "That's my dirty little secret." He then kicked the kneeling hedgehog, sending him hurled across the street.

Shadow noticed that his Chaos energy was full once more and hurried decided to use it.

"Chaos…" He whispered.

"What's that?" Sonic asked, unable to hear what was spoken.

"Assault!" He instantly was gone.

"What?!"

Shadow's fist met the back of the blue hedgehog's head, causing a sickening crunching sound to fill the air. Somersaulting over Sonic, he grabbed his head and tossed him like a ragdoll across a few wrecked police cars. The black hedgehog then appeared in front of him, stopping him from crashing into the cars by imprinting his foot to his stomach, making him gasp in agony. As Sonic attempted to recollect himself, Shadow quickly warped multiple times, peppering him with punches from every direction possible. When his assault ended, he fired a Chaos Spear for good measure, which caused clouds of dust to burst everywhere.

Shadow huffed breathlessly, swaying back and forth slightly "Ugh I don't have anything left after that…"

"Awww that's just too bad ain't it?" As the debris cleared out, Shadow's mouth fell agape.

"How? How did you get so strong since the last time we fought?"

"Not telling you," Sonic said as he walked slowly towards Shadow.

Then the black hedgehog did the unthinkable…he stepped back. For the first time, Shadow was feeling hopeless.

"Oh, my…are you starting to fear me?" Sonic laughed closing the distance between them.

The blue hedgehog dark red trench coat swayed behind him as he smoothly leg swept the black hedgehog feet, causing him to crumpled down on the ground with a thud. Sonic then grabbed him by the throat tightly with one hand and lifted him up.

"You should be scared. In fact, you should have been scared since the day you met me." Sonic slammed his fist straight into his stomach roughly, making him gurgle from the lack of oxygen. Blood began to seep out his lips as his struggle to escape the tight hold proved to be unsuccessful.

"You're weak!" He struck his stomach again.

"Pathetic!" and again

"Miserable!" and again

"Insect!” With one last punch, blood gushed from his mouth, slithering down his furry chest and pooling onto the ground.

Sonic snorted as Shadow's arms loosened. "Game over."

And then he just tossed him carelessly to the ground. Frowning with disgust, he charged up a condensed Chaos Blot with his left hand, eager to finally get rid of the troublesome hedgehog for good.

"It was fun while it lasted, Shadow."

He was about to let his attack loose but stopped when he heard a familiar voice shout his name.

"Sonic Stop!"

Sonic smirked as he watched Amy come toward him. _Well, what a welcoming surprise…_

Amy blinked in surprise when he lowered his hand, extinguished the ball of deadly Chaos energy. "What is it, _sweetheart_?"

Amy shivered, not liking the dirty tone of his voice. "Y-you don't have to do this!"

Sonic casually walked towards her.

"Oh, but I do…you see he's always in my way." Amy backed away from him slowly as Sonic closed in on her.

"But-"

"AMY get away from HIM!" a new voice entered in. It was Knuckles's.

Tails, Cream, and Rouge entered the scene also. They gasped upon seeing Shadow matted out on the ground in a bloody mess and hurriedly rush towards him. Tails checked his pulse and sighed in relief. "Don't worry, he's alive!"

Knuckles stood in front of the group as a bodyguard in case Sonic tried anything.

Amy’s body shook with terror, her legs feeling weak as his gleaming green and red eyes locked with hers. It was almost as if he was looking deep within her soul, slowly breaking down her defenses. As much as she hated it, she felt drawn to him and she had been since the first time they kissed. And how could she not be? Despite how evil he was, this was Sonic. Maybe he’s not so much different than hers. He did kiss her and…and that means that he loves her right? It did feel good didn’t it...yes it did. Maybe she should just give in? She shook her head, bring her out of her trance. _Wait no! What am I saying? What’s he doing to me?_

Amy flinched when Sonic lifted his right hand and gently grasped one of her loose strands of hair.

"Wh-what are you d-doing?" she stuttered.

Amy’s eyes went half-lidded, her head following Sonic’s palm as he slowly stroked her cheek.

"Nothing you don’t want…." A calm glow of red energy coated the hand that was cupping Amy’s cheek, making her fall into the trance again.

"R-R-ose get aw-way from him" Shadow coughed, trying to stand up. After witnessing this, Tails and Rouge helped Shadow up, placing him against one of the wrecked police vehicles.

"I don't know, but it's starting to creep me out!" Cream said, her lips trembling.

"We…have to…get her away from him…" Shadow said.

"We can't…" Knuckles responded, his back still facing them. "He's too aware of us. He might hurt her."

The black hedgehog didn't exactly believe that. Sure he has tried to kill Rose many times, but only when he lost his temper and while this wasn't _his_ Rose, it was a Rose nonetheless; that might actually stop him from hurting her. Also, this reaction this Rose is having towards Sonic is very strange. Sonic’s counterpart must have a powerful effect on her…their love must be as strong as his and his own Rose’s. _She yearns for her Sonic’s affections…and perhaps…because he hasn’t given it, could that be why…she looks so charmed with this one? Doesn’t make any sense! She felt sick when she realized that this evil bastard wasn’t her Sonic…what the hell?_

Wrapping an arm around her waist, Amy felt her body melt with desire, her dazed vivid green eyes shifting to pools of crimson, the tainted soul of Sonic filling her heart with darkness like no other, giving the evil hedgehog access to her soul. Amy gasped as she felt the corrupting course through her, making her body glow with malice.

" _Your mine_ …" Sonic whispered.

He crushed his lips with hers, making her body slacken lifelessly.

Everyone’s jaw dropped when Amy’s body reanimated, a deep pausing ruby aura encasing her as she kissed the evil hedgehog back. Lifting a hand up, she dragged it through his blue quills, deepening the kiss.

Knuckles broke that silence. "Tell me that I'm not seeing this…"

"Oh God, why would she…" Rouge couldn't even finish her sentence.

Cream couldn't even say anything. She just stared with wide eyes.

Tails’s stomach turned, his bright blue eyes filling with tears as he couldn’t bear seeing his longtime friend give in to…to _him_.

Shadow just groaned in pain and in despair.

_It's almost like she's betraying me…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There were minor changes in the chapter until the end, which was almost completely rewritten (the whole Amy falling into a trance scene, kissing etc. It was there in the original. But this one is much better).
> 
> Chapter title changed from “Hopelessness” to “Soul Corruption”
> 
> Till Next Time!
> 
> (Posted: 12/11/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	13. Remorseful

* * *

**Remorseful**

* * *

Breaking the kiss, Sonic shivered with satisfaction. He had longed to do that for so long and now that he was finally able to do it, he will savor it. _Every one of them._ Sure she wasn’t _his_ Rose, but she was still a Rose. Her looks were very similar, somewhat flawless, her scent was intoxicating, and she was all his now; the power of the Master Emerald made sure of that, having bent the giant jewel to his will.

"Now that wasn't so bad was it?"

An uncharacteristic smile appeared across her lips as she kept her eyelids shut. "No, it wasn't." She whispered, sighing happily. "It was perfect…just as I have always wanted."

Her eyes fluttered open, revealing crimson ones, the pureness in them gone.

"What did he do to her?" Rouge questioned, terrified.

No one knew the answer. Not even Shadow.

Amy smiled darkly, the tainted heart and soul of Sonic combining with hers.

“What do you say we get out of here and go to a place more private?"

"J-just what the hell did you do to her Sonic?!"

"Me?" He laughed, "She wanted this as much as I did!" As if to prove her point, Amy clutched the side of his trench coat tightly with that new awful un-Amy-like smile. Seemingly out of nowhere, he pulled out the green Chaos Emerald.

"Wh-what! An Emerald!? But my radar didn't pick up on it!" Tails cried out in shock.

"Seems like I'm full of surprises today aren't I? Now if you'll excuse me, my queen and I have other things to do then waste time with all of you. Oh and Shadow, because of the turn of events, I'm feeling generous now, so you can go live another day. Have fun while it lasts."

With a taunting wink of his one good eye, he and the pink hedgehog vanished.

"Tails…I'm scared…" Cream said nervously.

"I think we all are…"

Shadow scoffed, cursing himself for his failure. _I've never seen anything like this before. It's almost as if he converted her to someone else. Just how powerful is he?_

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX Universe 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"I'm so bored!" Our blue hero complained.

Rose, who currently was in the kitchen looking for something to eat, overheard him grumbling but said nothing. Seeing that he was ignored, Sonic groaned louder.

If the said hedgehog could see the pink one's face, he would have seen the big smile across her lips.

And then she giggled.

Sonic caught this. "You sure giggle a lot ya know."

After fishing out a red apple from a small curvy bowl on the kitchen counter, she turned to him.

"I can't help it! You're adorable! The way you act!"

Sonic's face twisted into a look of horror. "A- _Adorable_ does not describe me!" he finished in defense.

"Then what does?"

Sonic smirked. "Handsome, sexy, and scorching hot to name a few."

Rose snorted. "Big ego huh."

"A sexy one!"

The pink hedgehog just rolled her eyes, deciding that that did not deserve a reply. "Do you want anything to drink while I'm in here?"

Sonic pondered for a second. "Any soda?" Rose nodded. "Give me any kind you have."

At the request, she strode to the fridge and plucked out a can of Sprite, and then tossed it towards him.

He caught it swiftly and then snaps it open, a hissing sound bursting from it. "So how did you meet up with Tai-err-Miles and the others?" He asked, curiously.

Rose sauntered out of the kitchen and sat back on the sofa she was previously on. "Oh, Miles… I found him in an abandoned warehouse while I was traveling. He had many tools and electronics scattered all over the place." She averted her gaze from the other hedgehog. "When I asked him what he was doing there, he said that he had nowhere else to go. It wasn't until later that he told me his parents were murdered…"

Sonic frowned. His buddy never knew what happened to his parents. He found him years ago deep within the Mystic Ruins forest with a bunch of tools, just as Rose described his counterpart. He could never tell if his parents either abandoned him or were murdered since he seemed pretty darn happy all the time. He _had_ asked him before but he always just shrugged it off, saying that he just ‘appeared’ there. Clearly, he didn't remember and he felt that he was better off not knowing. Sonic accepted that answer and 'adopted' him and they had been best buds ever since. Boy did he surprise the hedgehog when he showed him his created bi-plane, named the Tornado. He used that to go in and out of the city to buy parts for future creations.

Rose continued. "He was so serious and stubborn! He refused my offer to come travel with me, saying that he just wanted to be left alone. After some coaxing, he finally gave in…"

Sonic at first said nothing. _The complete polar opposite of Tails._ His eyes suddenly widened. _The way he looks at me…_ the hedgehog thought as he put two and two together.

"The other me killed his parents didn't he." It wasn't a question.

Rose nodded sourly. "You figured it out huh. That's why he doesn't like you. _He_ scarred him. In fact, when he became more comfortable around me, he broke down, telling me who did it and how it happened, in explicit details…. God, it was awful! It was almost like…no he had been holding that in forever… but shortly after that, he started smiling a little and on rare occasions even laughed." She stopped and smiled. "It wasn't until we ran into Cream that his barriers started to crumble at a faster rate, though he would never admit it."

"Heh, I guess he was destined to meet her no matter where huh." He stated, gulping down some of his soda.

"Seems like it since you told me that yours were together also. But anyway we met Cream through her mother, Vanilla, who had been shopping at a store at the time. When I told her Miles and I were travelers, Cream immediately jumped on the chance of an adventure, begging her mother to let her go. After constant complaints, she caved in, though she warned that if she didn’t check in with her every now and then, she was to come straight home. It was very strange because she didn’t know us well, but she said that she knew how to read people and she could tell I was a good person. And then…" Rose's smile brightened gleefully. "We met Shadow…"

The pure look of love on her face made Sonic frown sourly. Fortunately, Rose missed it because he quickly suppressed it.

"He was quite adventurous. Funny thing was that _he_ was the one that invited us to tag along, saying that he was lonely and wanted company." Rose giggled at the next part. "I called bullshit! I knew he was hitting on me but I just played along." She left it at that since she wasn't stupid. Sonic didn't want to listen to her love story seeing as how he was in love with her counterpart.

"Cool story bro," Sonic replied.

Rose narrowed her jaded eyes. "Asshole!"

Sonic just gave a shit-eating grin before finishing his soda. He then sat up and turned towards the kitchen and saw a trash barrow near it. He did a jump shot and the can hit its target.

"Score!"

"Show off." Rose playfully said. "Oh, Sonic… if you can please keep our conver-"

Sonic smiled before sitting down. "Don't sweat it! My lips are sealed!" He gave a wink.

Rose returned the smile.

Before they could start another conversion, they saw the fox and rabbit return yet again from upstairs. In the fox's right hand was a grey dull ring that looked like it could fit on someone's wrist. It had a crystal-glass-like material outlining it. The fox tossed it at the blue hedgehog, who caught it effortlessly.

"What's this?" Sonic questioned, tilting his head.

"Snap it on one of your wrists." He replied coolly.

Sonic nodded and guided it to his right wrist, clipping it in place with a secure snap. And then it began to glow a radiant greenish-blue color, looking like sparkling crystal. "Wow…"

"That should solve your problem. It centers your massive amount of Chaos energy into that ring." Miles gestured to said ring. "You've used the Chaos Emeralds many times haven't you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Our blue hero winced before replying. "Yeah… more times than I can remember. Why?"

The fox shook his head with disappointment. "Your body is developing a condition called Chaos Overload."

Rose's eyes widened. "Isn't that the same thing-"

"Shadow has? Yes." The fox interrupted.

Sonic didn't like the sound of that. "What does that mean?"

Cream answered before the fox did. "It means that your body has so much Chaos energy, that in the long run, if you didn’t expel all of it, it would consume you."

Sonic's mouth went agape. "So why were you so shocked when you saw my feet glow?" He asked the fox.

"Because it apparently varies from person to person. Shadow showed it by developing a high fever. Small bursts of Chaos energy would expel occasionally out of his body."

Rose shivered as she remembered those weeks of discomfort. She had never seen the black hedgehog look so fragile. "But look at it this way Sonic, the ring will help you control it and you can use it to create new powers." The pink hedgehog then raised her left wrist and pointed to the bracelet. "This was Shadow's ring. He has had them since the day he was born so Miles just incorporated the materiel into it."

"Shadow liked it so much that he asked me to do his other ring for more power."

"Make sure to ask Miles counterpart to do normal maintenance checks to make sure it's always stable." Cream added. Sonic stared at the rabbit strangely. "What?"

Sonic shook his head while chuckling. "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen the Cream from my world speak so uhh…how to say this… oh! Informed!"

Cream raised a brow at this. "You mean intelligent? Knowledgeable about technology?" The hedgehog nodded. "Oh God please don't tell me she's a total idiot!" She blurted out, worriedly.

Sonic waved his hands wildly. "No! That's not it! She's just uhh normal! You're more serious!"

"What do you mean ‘normal’? Are you calling me weird?!" she exclaimed with a nasty glare.

Miles smirked at the fact that his girlfriend was making him squirm.

Sonic was sweating profoundly. "Normal is overrated r-right?"

Cream unexpectedly smiled brightly. "You’re right!"

Miles, unable to contain it any longer, laughed softly at their banter. Rose smiled. She always loved it when he laughed like that since he doesn't do it often. _Cream does too_ she added thoughtfully.

As the rabbit was passed by the fox, she winked at him, mouthing _I love you Tails_

Watching her head into the kitchen to grab something to eat, Miles smirked and inwardly thanked her. Cream wasn't so easily offended. _Devious vixen. I'll get you back for saying the forbidden nickname._ Cream is the _only_ person that can use his nickname (privately of course), since for some reason…he liked it…a lot.

Sonic sighed, not understand what just transpired. He then stood up and began stretching his legs.

Tails turned towards Rose. "By the way, why do you even have Shadow's ring?"

Rose, who had been staring off space, snapped her head towards the fox. "Oh…he gave it to me as a wedding gift…" She said with a bittersweet smile.

Miles nodded, his lips pulled into a tiny smile.

"Okay then!" Sonic yelled obnoxiously. "I'm getting out of here and going to find a way back to my world."

"And how are you going to manage that?" Rose deadpanned.

Sonic smiled. "Easy! Just go to the source!"

A light bulb flashed over her head. "The Emeralds…"

Miles suddenly cut in by tapping Sonic on the shoulder. "Oh Blue-Cheese, before you go-." He stopped to relish the disapproval look on the blue hedgehog face at being called such a name. It didn't help that said hedgehog heard a snickering sound within the kitchen area. "I wanted to tell you that while I was creating that ring for you, I found out why you were reacted the way you did around our Chaos Emeralds."

This perked our blue hero's interest. "Really?"

"No. I just wanted to see the look of disappointment one last time before you left." Miles said gleefully; more snickering came from the kitchen.

Sonic frowned. "That's not very nice!"

Rose growled. "Okay Miles, that's enough! Be serious!"

Miles sighed, hating that the 'Torture-the-hell-out-of-Sonic' game had to come to an end.

"Fiinne, anyways I actually wasn't lying. It's simple really. Your body isn't compatible with them. You see, we can’t see it, but everything in the universe is constantly in motion, vibrating rapidly, including us. The standard frequency that you vibrate at, from what I learned today, is completely reversed from ours; totally opposite. However, the difference is so small, that you should not be affected by it; and you aren’t, because if you were, you would have died in that church hours ago. Now the Chaos Emeralds…that’s what changes things. Remember, I said the difference is too small to harm you, right? The Emeralds changes that. That small difference is amplified by 10 folds; add that to your Chaos Overload problem, you get that sick feeling.”

“I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t affect Shadow at all. As much as I hate to admit it, you are much stronger than Shadow, but there is a downside to that; that incredible power you hold within you makes you very sensitive to different frequencies. If you are exposed to it for too long, it will kill you.” 

Sonic looked at the fox like he sprouted two heads, not being able to absorb all the information given to him. "Wow… so basically the Emeralds don't like me."

"Pretty much. Can't say I don't blame them considering you're just a huge dic-"

"Miles! I'm warning you!" Rose flared out.

The fox waved his hands frantically. "Okay Okay! I'll stop! I'm sorry!"

Sonic at this point, had had enough of the fox's insults and exploded. "Listen _Tails_ , thanks for the ring and all the help you have done for me, but the way you're treating me is seriously starting to piss me off!"

The fastest thing alive didn’t know what hit him as he felt a fist connect with him, square on the left cheekbone, producing a sickening crunching sound, jerking his head to the side. Rose just stared incredulity at the assault, as did Cream, who had just re-entered the living room.

Sonic just turned his head back towards the fox, who stayed guarded in case the blue hedgehog attacked him. He wiped the tracking blood below his lip as the fire in his eyes churned heatedly.

"You wanted a douche? Well, you got one." Sonic sighed before continuing. "Sorry that I snapped and called you that but you gotta ask yourself this. Just who is _really_ the prick here?" With that said he turned around and began heading out towards the front door. "I'm going home…"

"Wait!" Rose shouted as he had his hands on the doorknob, causing him to stop. "I-I want to go with you."

Miles hurried jumped in. "No don't go!"

Rose turned sharply with a nasty glare. "Don't you dare ask me to not see Shadow again! I'm going."

"But what if you get trapped between dimensions and-"

"Bullshit! That’s not the _main_ reason and you know it. You just don't want me to go because you still don't trust him, do you!? Well, I hate to break the news to you but I do!" With that said, the pink hedgehog stomped her way towards the cobalt hedgehog, who had a look of bafflement.

"Let's go," Rose said sternly as she opened the door and dragged the confused hero out along with her.

As the door slammed shut, Miles couldn't help but feel really remorseful. It also didn't help that his girlfriend was completed livid with anger and disgust.

"You know you had that coming right? It's one thing to tease him but to insult him over and over again is ridiculous when it's been confirmed that he isn't like our Sonic." Cream sneered. She then laughed bitterly. "You were so blinded by your hate that you couldn’t take in the only chance of having the company of a Sonic that was a good person. That hedgehog had a pure and beautiful heart. He was the Sonic that we could have had; the Sonic that would fill our world with joy, instead of fear. Rose and I could see it, so why couldn't you?"

And then she headed upstairs, leaving the fox alone.

Miles looked down, his face twisting with remorse. _Boy, I did it this time huh…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: He did deserve it didn't he? Nahh ^_^;
> 
> Wow, this chapter, was nearly completely revamped. New longer dialogues and paragraphs were added. The part explaining the frequency and vibration, all new. None of that was in the original. Also, please don’t put too much thought into the whole motion thing. While some of it was true, I probably had bullshitted a lot of it, so let’s pretend that Miles is accurate lol
> 
> (Posted: 12/17/2020)
> 
> -Gater-


	14. Tender Moments and Evil Desire

* * *

**Tender Moments and Evil Desire**

* * *

Sonic slammed the pink hedgehog against the wall, kissing her harshly. She whimpered with want as the blue hedgehog continued to ravage her. This make-out session has been going on for who knows how long at this point. He finally had what he wanted, didn't he? She was driving him wild and hell he loved it. All the pint up emotions were bursting out of him; he had wanted this so bad for so long and now that he had it, he wasn't going to lose it without a fight. It was easy to _make her_ want him. In fact, he didn't even have to do that! She already wanted him from the start… well not exactly him but he was still Sonic, right? The evil hedgehog knew something that nobody knew about him. He was utterly corrupted to the core. His soul, his mind, his heart you can name it, he was it. In fact, he was so foul that if he was in contact with anything for too long, he could manipulate it to his will; with the aid of the Master Emeralds, he learned that he can corrupt others' souls, mind controller them if he wanted too. So that's what he did to the pink hedgehog; He had corrupted her. And he continued to defile her with his wandering hands and lips. _I will make sure she will NEVER be pure again_ he chuckled nastily, causing her to stutter in pleasure.

"Wanna rule the universe with me…" He drawled.

"Yesss…" She hissed. She was too far gone. She couldn’t think straight, even remember who she was at the moment. All she understood was that she was finally with Sonic and will be with him forever. He had called her his queen right? Well, he was her King and if he wanted to rule the universe, then they will; they will do it together.

"Good because I'll _burn it all down…Make it my own personal hell…_ "

"God Yesss."

"And your former friend will all fall…"

Amy's eyes snapped open, struggling against him so that he could let her go. Her eyes briefly shimmered to her normal green color, before reverting back to ruby. "Don't…don’t do that…"

"Wh-what?!" He was shocked. At this point, she shouldn't be able to resist him at all.

She stared sternly at him. "Don't kill them…"

"How dare-"

Amy’s eyes darken sinisterly. "Let me." _Why did I say that!? No! I don't want to! Why don't I have control over myself!_ She whimpered, feeling utterly vulnerable; her mental whispers of help were then silenced, sealed shut.

Sonic smirked. "Even better."

Outside the room, the hedgehogs were in was Eggman's lab. Within the lab, the Doctor sat on his chair…limply, blood dripping down his arms.

Apparently, the blue hedgehog didn't like his plans after all. Stupid robots never got the job done in his world, so they most certainly won't do any better here. Besides, he already did help him, didn't he? He after all had the seven Chaos Emeralds in his possession.

_Enjoy the time you have left Shadow because soon it will all come to an end. Everything you cherish will fall and be ruled by me…_

* * *

Drip…Drip…Drip.

That was the only sound echoing throughout the fox's household. They had all made it back minutes ago...ten to be exact and no one had spoken a word since. Cream looked like she was staring off space, Tails looked sick yet slightly thoughtful, Shadow looked defeated (well he was beaten, literally), and Knuckles and Rouge just had their head down. It was so quiet that if a pin was dropped, it would surely be heard.

Tails finally had the courage to break the silence first. "Shadow." Said hedgehog turned to the fox. "You think...I could see that bracelet on your wrist?"

"Uh that was random...sure but why?" Shadow asked, confused.

The fox exhaled softly, trying to recollect himself. "I can't just stand here and do nothing anymore so I was thinking if I could analyze your ring so I could maybe create something...who knows..."

Shadow knew why he asked. He was doing exactly what his counterpart did in stressful situations. Study and create. The black hedgehog pushed off against the wall he was leaning on and strode to the orange-yellow fox. He then unclasped the ring and handed it to him. As soon as he did that, tiny jolts of Chaos energy danced around his right wrist, making the fox jump.

"Just make sure you don't take too long. My Chaos energy is unrestricted without it and let's just say I don't want to accidentally explode this home of yours"

Tails paled. "How long do I have with it?"

"Well since I never had to be without it for long, I’d say at least one uh actually, I'm not sure-" Tails paled even more if that was even possible. "But I've had it for so long that I'm sure I got enough control for a while...can't give a number. I'll just get your attention if it becomes too much to bear."

"Okay..."

"Besides, we got good old Knuckles over there with his big rock. Uh, you do have it right?" The echidna grunted at the insult to his precious jewel but nodded nonetheless. "So everything should be fine."

Tails nodded and then left to his lab in the basement.

It was quiet in the fox's household once again, but for an entirely different reason. It was past midnight so everyone was sleeping at this point, well except a certain two-tailed fox, who was working diligently in his lab. The echidna was leaning on the single person couch with his right arm wrapped around the batgirl's waist while she cuddled on his chest. Shadow was on the much longer couch, sleeping peacefully. However, that didn't last long; he jolted upright all of a sudden. His eyes shot wide open, wildly looking around the living room, expecting something to jump on him. Seeing that he was safe, he relaxed and arose from the couch, stretching his sore muscles from the beating he suffered from the blue hedgehog.

He was about to head out but stopped when he heard a creaking sound hiss behind him. He turned around and saw that it was the fox. His eyes were red-rimmed, probably from staying up all night so far.

Shadow chuckled. "Maybe you should go to sleep." Of course, as stubborn as he was, he shook his head no.

"I'll live." Tails waved off his concern. "But I was wondering if I could borrow your shoes for a while."

Shadow looked at his surprise. "M-my shoes?" Tails nodded. "So let me get this straight, first you take my ring and now you want my shoes?! Are you trying to strip me more than I already am!?"

Tails waved his hands comically. "No no no! Just want to incorporate something in them!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes sharply. "But what am I supposed to wear? I don’t want to step on something sharp.”

"That's why I brought these." He tossed a pair of slippers at his feet. It was a pair of pink bunny slippers to make matters worse.

"You can't expect me to wear those!" The hedgehog said, horrified. "Don't you have a different pair!?"

"Nope. Those are Amy's pairs. Lucky, she likes them a little bigger than her feet so they should fit you just fine." Tails smiled brightly but only briefly since mentioning the pink hedgehog's name made him feel melancholy. "It's either that or you can remain barefoot."

Shadow sighed with displeasure but nevertheless slipped off his precious shoes. He then reluctantly slipped on the bunny slippers. _Hmph at least they feel nice_ he thought with a snort.

Tails picked up the shoes and grinned. "Don't worry, you won't regret it!" and he was gone.

With an annoyed grunt, Shadow headed out the front door and then sat down on the steps. He made sure to keep the door open in case he somehow got locked out.

Many thoughts were swarming in his head as the chilly wind blew his soft quills gracefully. Was he ever going to get home? Is Rose okay along with Miles and Cream? Will he ever defeat Sonic once and for all, putting an end to his goal of universal domination? That sounded ridiculous! There was NO way he could accomplish that! _I'm sure that he has let all the power go to his head. I wouldn't be surprised if, over time, he loses himself completely._ Another thought he had was what he did to the Rose from here. Was it mind control? Was it a device he implanted in her somewhere while we were distracted? His thoughts then trailed off as something just clicked in his head. _He never cared…he never cared that my Rose didn't like him one bit! He knew that if he could get his hands on her and steal a kiss from her, he could warp her mind like he did this Amy! Well, that's never gonna happen! Not while I'm still breathing!_

Right there and then he vowed to reverse what he did to her.

"Hey whatcha doing out here?"

Shadow instantly knew who the voice belonged to. "Shouldn't you be asleep rabbit-girl"

Said rabbit huffed with a pout. "I know I just couldn't sleep either and I have a name you know!" She then sat down beside him.

Shadow smirked. "Of course Cream-Cheese." He teased as he stared at the twinkling stars above.

Cream grinned mischievously. "Nice slippers."

Shadow grumbled, making the bunny giggle.

Cream grinned impishly once. "You know, I do have a chao at home named Cheese.”

"Really? Your counterpart never was interested in one. Vanilla is your mother's name right?" Cream nodded. "Same as hers."

"Hmmm…what is she like?"

"She loves technology and science. Though she doesn't build like Miles does, she still loves to learn and watch him design stuff."

"Wow…so not me! So she's a nerd."

"Pretty much," Shadow confirmed.

They were both quiet for a while before Cream asked another question. "Is Tails similar to ours?"

Shadow snorted. "Hardly. He's the complete polar opposite of yours. He's serious as hell and mistrusting, along with being a smart-ass. He ticks me off a lot because he sometimes doesn't know when to keep his damn mouth shut. But I still love him like a brother. I can always count on him to have my back." Shadow paused for a second. "The only things the two foxes have in common are their love for building stuff and the teenage love they have for bunnies."

"Yay! We're universal!"

Shadow chuckled. "I wouldn't be _too_ sure. In some universe out there you might be with Knuckles or maybe even with Rouge."

"Knuckles or Rouge? Ewwww! And no offense to the gays, I prefer to stay straight. But then again, that would be a different version of me. So it would be none of my business."

Once she was able to remove the disturbing of Knuckles and Rouge, she yawned softly. Feeling cold and tired, she shamelessly grabbed the black hedgehog's left arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, snuggling against his chest.

Shadow's lips tugged into a smile as he pulled her closer and waited until she fell asleep. It didn't take long. He was going to pick her up and bring her back inside but decided against it for fear that he would wake her up. _I'll wait a while more just in case._

Shadow stared off into the night, waiting for daylight to break the darkness.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX Universe 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"So how are we going to get across?"

"Well...I was thinking that I could run us over the ocean." Our blue hero said, staring ahead of him.

Rose shook her head. "But you can't! The water will probably melt your shoes off at this point and then _we'll_ both melt along with them."

Sonic smiled lightly as he waved his index finger back and forth. "Not possible. I can almost reach the speed of light if I have enough momentum. The longer the distance from point A to B, the faster I go!"

Rose laughed. "You mean the speed of sound, you dolt!"

"No, I'm being serious Ames. I can."

Her eyes widened. "No way, that's just not possible! Shadow and the other Sonic can break sound, but light speed?! Isn't that a little _too_ far-fetched?"

Sonic smirked. "That's what I used to think also, but I've become so fast over the years, that running at the speed of sound is like a speeding car passing by you. However, I've become worried about my speed."

Rose frowned. "Why?"

Sonic sighed. "Because I'm starting to see little tears in space while I'm running at that speed. I might just warp into time and space and end up who knows where. When I'm running, I know where I'm going, but threw a warm hole, I might be lost forever having no way back."

Rose was speechless.

"But don't worry, I won't push it that far, and also don't think I'm stupid enough to try running on lava. Boling water I can handle with speeds faster than sound." Sonic turned around, his back now facing Rose. "Hop on and hold on tight!"

And she hastily complied. "Ready!" Sonic hollered, as he took his running stance. Rose nodded.

"Set!" She shut her eyes tightly, burying her face within his quills.

"Go!" And he was off, ripping through the dirt like it was paper.

Once his feet touched the top of the ocean, he blasted off even faster, causing ripples to explode out of the water. The night's brisk wind along with the sprinkling seawater caused the pink hedgehog to shiver feverishly. It was almost as if _she_ was running… or was it flying? She didn't have time to ponder anymore as a powerful sonic boom erupted like thunder striking the earth. _Oh my God! He's going even faster and faster! He's already far past Shadow's speed limit!_

And then everything slowed down. "What?" the wind stopped, everything stopped! "Did we stop?"

"Nope."

"Then why does it feel like we did?"

"Speed of light…well almost, I'm not capable of that yet. Anyways, open your eyes."

"N-No way!"

"Do you trust me?" She knew she did. So why doubt him now? Her eyes fluttered open.

Her mouth dropped at the sight. Everything was slow… so slow. She could see water particles hovering around them; the water looking like it was solid floor. When she looked to her left she saw nothing but more ocean and hell she even saw an owl frozen in mid-air. "Unbelievable…"

"Believe it! Now shut your eyes again and take cover." After she did, they slowed down, setting everything back in motion. Sonic could already see the lava in the distance so he began to prepare himself for what he was about to do next. He was going to put his ring to the test. _Hope the prink of a fox didn't bug this thing or else we can kiss our asses goodbye_ he thought, still a little angry at the fox.

Once he saw that he was close enough, he willed the ring to come to life as he did with the Chaos Emeralds. When it glowed brilliantly he boosted off the ocean, flying in midair. Once he was over it, he landed on the nearest platform. Both of the hedgehogs began to feel the vicious powerful wind smacking right at them, reminding them of the fact that they were here not too long ago.

The only difference was that it felt more violent…that and the addition of ashes and thunderstorms. _Great…_ they thought simultaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Not much was changed in this chapter. Just removed and altered dialogue etc.
> 
> Oh and yeah, sorry about Eggman, I just never had much of an idea where to go with him. Originally I was going to have him play a bigger role, but I figured that since evil Sonic was the main villain, he had no place. Not only that, but it would have also had made the story longer than I want it to be. So evil Sonic got to kill him twice... lucky him ^_^;
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading! Till next time!
> 
> (Posted: 12/17/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	15. Chaos Warp

* * *

**Chaos Warp**

* * *

_You never cease to surprise me blue hedgehog. I thought when that capsule blew up in space…I thought it was all over for you._

_What can I say, I die hard._ He looked at the yellow Chaos Emerald clutch in his left hand tightly. _You saved me you know._

_It was a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? But there is no way you could have activated the Chaos Control, using an Emerald that's fake. What are you anyway?_

They both started running on the rather long runway… in what looked like… _what?_ space?

_What you see is what you get, just a guy that loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!_

They increased their speed, almost heading out in the open.

_I see, but you know, I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end._

…

_Before this is over, I will show you the true power of Chaos Control!_

Shadow lurched upright, breathing harshly on the couch as he tried to gain control of his emotions. _Huh… what the hell was that?_ He thought, a screwed up expression written on his weary face. It was almost as if the dream he had actually happened before. Like he was the one talking to the blue hedgehog… the evil monster he loathed with a passion. But what was weird was that the blue hedgehog in his dream only looked like _him_ , but didn't have the same attitude, the same arrogance that usually caused him to erupt in fury. If anything, he looked righteous, looked like someone that was trying to accomplish something that would save the world. Also, he has never seen… no… never would have believed that he himself could look like that, so dark. It was strange, but the worst part was that he was the one that was trying to put a stop to what Sonic was trying to accomplish. He felt that if he were to succeed if he fought and killed the blue hedgehog, instead of just knocking him out, he would have put an end to it all, end and destroy what he believed was so precious to him and everyone else… the _world? Why?_

Shadow shook his head and snorted. It was just a ridiculous dream, wasn't it? So why did he feel like it had actually happened? _Ugh, whatever_ he thought, pushing the dream to the back of his mind.

He looked to his side and saw that the little bunny, Cream, was watching some kind of morning cartoon, sitting next to him. If she noticed his abrupt awakening, she didn't show it. Shadow then switched his focus to the echidna and bat, who were both sitting comfortably on the one person couch, having a small chat and…were they flirting? _Ugh, so don't wanna know what the hell they are_ -

All of a sudden, he began to panic as he felt his body pulsing rapidly, greenish Chaos energy flaring brilliantly from within. This, everyone noticed.

"Whoa!" Knuckles exclaimed, feeling the rather large amount of Chaos energy coming from the black hedgehog. Cream panicked while Rouge gave the echidna a worried glance.

"What's wrong with him, it's almost as if he's trying to stop himself from-"

"Blowing up? He is, he's trying to contain it. Maybe I can use the Master Emerald to negate it."

Shadow, who was now on the floor, shouted as he clutching his head, not willing to give in to the overwhelming desiring to just let all the buildup power loose. "N-No don't! G-get Miles, he's got my b-bracelet! That will stop th-ughhhhaa!"

The rabbit immediately reacted, screeching as she ran towards the fox's work station. "Tails! Get over here now with the things you borrowed from Shadow before he kills us all!"

Not seconds later did the fox appear, the rabbit yanking him by the ear. "Ow Ow Ow Okay!"

The fox hurriedly gave the bracelet to the shaking hands of the black hedgehog. He gasped as he snapped it on his right wrist, causing the wild Chaos energy to begin to settle, outlining his entire body with green energy. He shut his eyes, calming down every second that passed, his bodying pulsing in intervals.

Everyone present watched him quietly, fearing that the slightest noise would cause him to explode. He took deep breathes for about a minute before he spoke, his eyes still remaining shut.

"Step away… all of you…"

They all complied as Shadow grunted, balling his hands into fists, as he then released a harmless burst of energy that illuminated the whole room akin to a camera flash. He sighed as his tense muscles relaxed, his entire body sparkling with green Chaos energy.

"That's better…" He whispered, with a slight smile gracing his lips.

Everyone sighed with relief as Shadow's gaze landed on the jumpy fox. "You took too long, however, I did say that I'd warn you if I needed it back. It's safe to say your home will stay in one piece."

Tails' ears flattened in dismay. "Sorry, I was just double-checking it and adding the finishing touches."

Shadow tilted his head curiously as he then shifted his focus to his bracelet, which was more transparent than he remembered. In fact, it looked nothing like his! "Huh? This isn't the one I gave you."

Tails nodded with a smile. "Your right, it isn't. I used yours as a model to create a similar replica. However, you'll find that this one is on a whole other level than the original one."

The black hedgehog frowned. "Where is the one I gave you, that's kinda personal to me so yeah, give it now."

The fox held his hands up in a defensive manner. "Don't worry, it's in my work station along with your shoes. Let me go get them and I'll explain how everything works." He said as he rushed off to grab the hedgehog's belongings. When he returned, he handed Shadow his ring and dropped his shoes near him, which also looked like it went through some modifications. The only difference is that the normal red lining on the sides of his shoes was now completely transparent, matching his new bracelet.

"Slip them on."

With a shrug, Shadow slipping the shoes on, jumping shortly after to get them adjusted to his feet. He then snapped his original bracelet on his left wrist. Almost immediately, both rings along with the linings of his shoes lid up brightly, humming softly before quieting.

"Whoa! What is all this?" The bewildered hedgehog asked as he analyzed his bracelet and shoes.

Tails smiled, clearly proud of his new invention. "Unlike your original ring, the new one along with the additions to your shoes are made of fragments of an artificial Chaos Emerald, which I created myself. It has the same wavelength and properties, though it is less powerful than a real one. A machine wouldn't be able to tell the difference! Anyways, not only will your Chaos energy charge a lot quicker, but you could surely create new ways to use the added amount of energy."

Tails gestured to his original bracelet. "Since this one isn't compatible with your new one, it won't activate when you use them at once, however, the way I see it, that's a good thing. Think of it like it's a backup battery. If you use up all your Chaos energy, use the backup by activating it the way you normally do."

Shadow nodded, liking what he heard. "Fake Chaos Emeralds huh, never thought it was possible to make one."

"Well, I am a genius!" Tails boosted, making everyone roll their eyes. "Oh, two things; first, I cannot stress this enough, make sure you feel the vibration coming from your new ring and shoes, because if you activate it prematurely, it may explode, hurting you instead. And second, tell the other me to do maintenance check every now and then to make sure everything is okay."

Shadow nodded once more. "Alright, thanks, kid." He said with a small smile, tousling the fur on his head, making the fox laugh.

A sudden tremor raddled the small home. Shortly after, Shadow and Knuckles' eyes widened.

"Damn, I just felt a tremendous surge of Chaos energy skyrocket!"

Shadow clutched his fists. "And it's getting higher…"

Knuckles nodded as his eyes narrowed. "It's very dark… it's already at a dangerous level… its Sonic isn't it?"

The black hedgehog grunted, nodding. "I feel like he's calling me out… this is it. Our final battle…"

"Hey guys, look!"

Everyone turned their attention towards Cream, who looked horrified, as she cupped her mouth in shock at what she was witnessing on TV.

Her cartoon got interrupted by a female news anchor, who was desperately holding on to a street signpost, that was groaning, hinting that its place nailed to the ground was going to give away sooner or later. Behind her, the whole city was in utter chaos and panic as citizens run for their lives.

"If you just tuned in, I will repeat, do NOT come to Station Square. Our once beloved hero, who had gone on a rampage yesterday evening, killing hundreds of police officers, is at it again!" The anchor hollered as she held on for dear life. How the cameraman was still standing, no one knew. "However this time, he is literally wrecking the entire city!" Her blond hair whipped wildly as the camera turned its focus from her to a large building above.

What they saw caused chills to travel up their spines.

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Ugh, this is getting very tiring…" Sonic huffed out, as the pink hedgehog, who was gripping the other hedgehog's neck tightly, silently agreed.

Things didn't look good for the two hedgehogs. Sure it started out smoothly, with Sonic easily speeding down crushed and slanted streets that somehow were leveled in the air; he occasionally had to slow down and hop from platform to platform before resuming his sound breaking speed on the road. His goal was simple really...or at least it sounded like it.

Get to the church that held the Chaos Emeralds and hopefully find a way back to his universe. There had to be a way right?

Anyhow, ten minutes later, the tornados began circling near their location. Thankfully, Sonic was able to hold his ground, literally, by using his new Chaos bracelet to remain grounded; they could do without the ever-present debris though.

"Sonic! How much longer!?" Rose hollered over the raging storm.

Sonic flinched but still remained focused. "Quit yelling! Your right near my ear so I can hear you just fine."

Rose blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry…"

"It's okay, anyway; I don't see the stupid church. What's worse is that it feels like I've been at this for hours. The heat is unbearable…"

Rose sighed, tickling the back of the hedgehog's neck, causing him to giggle. "Hey, quit it! That tickles!"

The pink hedgehog said nothing as she blushed. _Oh my God, why am I blushing so much!?_ She thought as she became redder. _I could see it can't I? It's easy to fall in love with this hedgehog. He's so sweet, so unlike the other one. The complete opposite._ She giggled softly. _And what's funny is that I can't say that in another lifetime, in another world_ , _he and I_ could _have been together because it has already happened hasn't it?_ _Shadow is the only one for me anyway and I aim to bring him back._

"Hey! What you giggle about back there."

"Oh, nothing!" She blurted out, blushing once more.

Sonic chuckled as his eyes widened. "Holy chilidogs! I see the church!"

"Really?! Fina-hold up, did you just say holy chilidogs?"

"Yes."

Rose snorted, causing the blue hedgehog to smile brightly, however, his expression changed as he got closer and closer to his goal. He was almost there but as they say, expect the unexpected.

Everything took a turn for the worse as a sudden blast of evil Chaos energy slammed into the blue hedgehog's stomach, hurling him off the runway. Sonic, trying to play the hero as he always did, flung the pink hedgehog over his shoulder, sending her to the small platform in front of him. He then let himself fall to the very depth of hell itself.

"No! Sonic!" Rose cried out as she landed roughly against the hard piece of land. Tears began falling, as she starting to feel the same hopelessness she felt when Shadow was taken away from her. After everything they been through, there was no way it could be over… right?

_Expect the unexpected._

A huge column of light shot out from the abyss that the blue hedgehog had fallen in, making the pink hedgehog's glistening jaded eyes widen with hope as her tears were chased away by the ever roaring wind. As the light faded, an ink colored hedgehog was revealed, with a heavy frown spread on his face. His empty eyes glared ahead, focusing on the direction of the church; the six Chaos Emeralds could be seen shimmering brightly around it.

Amy shivered, clearly showing her distaste for the blue hero's dark transformation. _Let's hope he's got himself under control_

" **I’m okay**. **It appears the Chaos Emeralds have become so corrupted, that a single blast turns my positive Chaos energy to negative.** “He said, with a deep distorted voice that bounced around the area. His attention then shifted towards the pink hedgehog, causing her blood to freeze.

Sonic's frown then turned into a smile as his expression relaxed, his bright emerald eyes reappearing in their rightful place. Shortly after, his inky fur shifted back to its true blue color, however, it remained shimmering. The single bang that hung loosely down his face changed from dark inky purple to brilliant yellow-gold color. It was like he was Super Sonic, but still blue as the day he was born.

Sonic's smile turned into a stoic expression. "I don't know how long I can last like this so let's take advantage of it."

Rose nodded with a smile, clearly relieved that Sonic was still in control of himself. Our blue hero hovered close to the pink hedgehog, his back turned towards her, indicating that he wanted her to grab on. She complied, holding on tightly as he made a U-turn and blasted off towards the wrecked airborne church, which now seemed to be the alter of the six angry Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic's golden aura blazed around him violently, not only protecting himself but also Rose, who held on tightly, never daring to loosen her hold even for a second. The hedgehog swerved left, right, up and down, never losing momentum, knowing that one slip could be the difference between life and death. He did a U-turn once more, smoothly dodging an incoming piece of a building. _Good God, is there anything left to save? There has to be a way to reverse all this damage right?_

Just then his aura began to flicker like a dying light bulb, causing him to panic slightly as he started to believe that he wasn't going to make it in time. _Stop it! Don't lose focus_! He chastened himself for his negative thoughts.

As he regained his composure, that's when the same blast that had nearly sent him to his death almost struck him again. Fortunately, this time he was able to evade it by taking a quick right turn. That's when the realization hit him.

"Shit! The Emeralds know we're coming! Hold on tight, I'm going to use all the power I have left to reach the alter!" He hollered as his aura brightened more than ever.

Just like that, he was gone.

**One!**

_His speed increased massively, a slight tear appeared to his left side, showing a pitch dark hole, akin to outer space._

He moved left and right, avoiding the rapid blasts that continued to try to take him down.

**Two!**

_He broke the sound barrier, causing the tear to become bigger and wider than ever before, more than he ever dared. Pure dread rose from the pit of his stomach, making him almost want to vomit, as fear itself wanted to consume everything that was him, his very own life-force._ **Please work please work!**

He curved upwards, staying focused, as a large Chaos beam nearly took him out. _Here goes!_

_And it shattered, the very dark void of space showing its true form, ready to consume whatever was in its way._

**THREE**!

"Chaos Warp!"

He exploded, the darkness that was the wormhole devouring both the hedgehogs, sending them either to their destination or to their death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There wasn’t much changed in this one.
> 
> Okay! Here we go! The final chapters start with the next chapter, which will be posted on December 19! They will all be posted before the end of the year.
> 
> (Posted 12/17/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	16. The Final Confrontation

* * *

**The Final Confrontation**

* * *

"W-what’s he done?!"

Shadow was lost, unable to grasp what he had witnessed on TV. Or was it that he just didn't want to believe it? He, Tails, Cream, Knuckles, and Rouge were outdoors, having run out as soon as they saw what was happening in Station Square/City Hall.

"Even I can't do that! We have to hurry before he's finished or I dread that he will grow too powerful to stop!" Knuckles said, remembering the look in the blue hedgehog’s eyes, his hands raised and standing on a skyscraper. Above him, he and the gang had seen possibly thousands of red Master Emerald fragments. _It had been shattered during our duel on my island, so how was he able to collect them so fast?!_

"I hope I can. Anyways, I'm warping there alone! You guys don't need to interfere, this is my fight." Shadow said. His stomach twisted when he saw Rose’s double leaning against the bastard, her arms laced around his and a dark smile gracing her pretty face.

Before anyone could stop him, he was gone, leaving only a spark of green energy.

The echidna snarled angrily, clearly not liking the hedgehog's demand. "I’m not just going to stand here! It might not be my Master Emerald, but it is still one. I refuse to let such an evil person have their filthy paws on it!" He said, stomping off.

Rouge hurriedly rushed towards the red-hot-head, wanting to help out too and well, calm him down. “He can be such a hot head sometimes”

"Let’s go Cream! We'll take the Tornado there!" The fox said, grasping the rabbit by the arm and heading back inside his workshop.

_Man, where are you Sonic?_

* * *

_Arghh, this is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. Then again, I'm surprised this is even working! I can't believe my luck!_

He was on top of a skyscraper, with his hands above his head, gathering precious Chaos energy. The seven Chaos Emeralds slowly spun around him, almost as if he was the altar of the Master Emerald.

The thousands of red Master Emerald fragments crackled with negative energy, as they were forcefully put together to become whole. He didn't know or understand how he was able to do this, but he was certainly taking advantage of it.

It all started with knowing that it would take him days to collect all of these stupid fragments so he decided to try something ‘out there’, thinking out of the box so to speak. He went to the city and hopped onto the tallest building in the city. There, he began to channel the Chaos energy within him into the seven Emeralds and then manipulate the power to send out wave signals to attract the other Master Emerald fragments to the one he had in hand. Imagine his surprise when his plan actually worked.

Sonic glanced to his left and grinned. The pink hedgehog looked lovingly at him, her half-lidded crimson eyes glistening with swirls of corrupted energy.

She loved him, just as she should have. He scolded himself for feeling disappointed that this wasn’t his Rose, but another version of her, a copy. She was better than no Rose, right? _Right…_

_That's all I ever wanted… a Rose._

The massive Emerald that was the controller of the seven was a quarter complete. Its gleaming red corrupted aura radiated throughout the city, coating it with its bright red color.

"SONIC! COME DOWN HERE! LET’S FINISH THIS!"

The blue hedgehog looked down and smiled widely. "Well, well, look at who came out of hiding!"

Shadow growled, his stomach yet again twisting from seeing Amy’s love-struck face aimed at the evil prick beside her. _Damn, what the hell did he do to her?_

"Come on! Or are you afraid to fight me without the Master Emerald!?"

Sonic knew he was just trying to bait him into a fight but, why would that matter? He already knew he was much stronger than him, so he might as well grant him what he wishes.

“Okay, I'll humor you."

Balling up his fist, he dive-bombed headfirst down the skyscraper, aiming a Chaos powered punch directly at Shadow. Shadow didn’t have the chance to evade the attack, so he braced himself.

Seconds later, their fists met in a mindboggling explosion that sent Shadow hurling away, painfully ripping through the streets like it was paper. His momentum ceased when he smacked right through an abandoned jewelry store, shattering the hard glass window.

Sonic slowly walked towards his foe, expecting him to come bursting out any second now. However, he didn't expect a green flash and the black hedgehog's foot to connect with the back of his head in a surprise attack, sending him sailing before meeting him upfront with a fist to his face, finishing up with a skull breaking elbow to the top of his head, sending him slamming into the ground.

"Chaos Spear!"

Thick yellow needle-like arrows were shot from Shadow's hand, hitting the unguarded blue hedgehog, exploding on his exposed chest like they were firecrackers, scorching his skin harshly. The evil hedgehog was, unfortunately, able to push through the pain and raise back to his feet.

"Wind Blade!"

"Chaos Reflect!"

Sonic had fired one of his most powerful moves, an attack powerful enough to split the earth soil in two, but to his dismay, Shadow had erected some kind of green barrier that had sent his crescent shaped attack rocketing right back at him with double the force. His eyes widened with horror as he hastily threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the hit. The blue hedgehog shielded his eyes with his arm, blocking the harsh wind and debris that his own attack made. When the scene cleared, a large deep curved crater was revealed where he once stood, twice the size.

"You… how did you do that?!" the astonished hedgehog questioned, crouching and staring at the carved street.

Shadow was also surprised. He didn't actually believe his poorly thought out counter-attack would work.

"One of a few new moves I recently picked up!" He taunted, a smirk gracing his lips. _The fox wasn't lying… let's see what else I can cook up._

"Is that so?" As Sonic stood full height, his right hand quickly slipped into his red trench coat's pocket, pulling out the fractured red Emerald from their world. His lips twisted into an ugly smile and then he was gone.

"Huh?!"

Before Shadow could ponder where he just vanished, he felt a nasty sharp pain race down his spine as the blue hedgehog's knee slammed against his back, making him arch and gasp in agony. He vanished again though this time he could see him deliver a powerful fist to his stomach, causing his back pain to transfer to his gut, knocking the wind right out of him. Sonic continued his assault by grappling his head in a headlock and pounding his face in before finishing up with a strong uppercut to the chin that sent him spiraling upwards. Gravity pulling him down, he crashed harshly on the pavement. Shadow tried to stand but Sonic's knee pushing on his stomach prevented him from doing so.

"Chaos Bolt!"

Using all the strength he could muster, Shadow rolled to the side and leaped onto his feet. Sonic swirled to Shadow’s new location and released the attack. Shadow crossed his arms, doing a Chao Reflect but to his surprise, it got absorbed into him, giving him a boost of refreshing Chaos energy. At first, it felt corrupted when entering his body but it seems like his own pure energy converted the blue hedgehog's evil energy once it infused with him.

Sonic's eyes widened while Shadow grinned, his body sparkling with green Chaos energy.

"You're too kind…"

Shadow’s green aura brighten, making the street below him quake as a lighter shade of green then took form, outlining his body.

"What the…"

"Chaos Discharge!"

Radiant green energy exploded out of the black hedgehog's body akin to a large electrical shockwave, hitting the wide-eyed blue hedgehog square in the chest, electrocuting his entire body, making him look like a lit Christmas tree.

Sonic collapsed his charred body twitching.

Shadow watched the other hedgehog cautiously, knowing the blue hedgehog could at any time pull a fast one. Moments later, he heard a loud engine sound coming from the sky. The hedgehog growled, knowing the fox was clearly making his way to him.

"Whoa, you might have just beaten him…" Shadow's head turned and sighed when the red echidna had shown up and of course with the white bat.

"You all should have just stayed away…" he said with a hard tone.

Knuckles snorted crossing his arms. "And let you get pummeled like last time?" Shadow said nothing as he turned his attention back to the unresponsive hedgehog, knowing that the echidna made a point. The sound of harsh breathing was suddenly heard, signifying that the blue hedgehog was indeed alive… not that Shadow believe he had killed him in the first place.

"Ewww he looks very crispy!" A high pitched voice squealed in disgust.

"I'll say." A young male voice added.

Shadow sighed in defeat. "I just don't want any of you to get hurt. I don't want a repeat of my world…" He said softly, his sights remaining on the convulsing blue hedgehog.

"And we understand that…" Rouge said, making her way to the hedgehog, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you have to understand that this is our choice. We know we are not much help here, at least in the fighting department since _he_ outclasses us, but some of us, namely Knuckles and I could bail you out of tight situations." She was clearly reminding him of the fight at the Master Emerald's shrine and the one in the city yesterday.

_They are right…If it wasn't for them… I wouldn’t be here now…_

"And the others, they may not be able to fight but moral support is never a bad thing now is it?" Rouge continued, smiling warmly.

Shadow felt a small tug on his arm. The tan rabbit's hand had clasps with his own, clearly showing her support with a smile that touched her light brown eyes. Facing the red echidna, he saw him giving a thumbs up of approval.

"I've never left the Sonic I know side when things got rough. Even though he’s not here, I know he would want me to help in any way I can in this situation." Tails didn't smile; he had more of a look of determination.

Shadow’s lips lifted slightly. "Fine…It's not like I could have stopped all of you anyway."

"So he's really trying to put the red Master Emerald back together huh." The red echidna said as he glared at the shining jewel, which was now more than a quarter complete.

"Oh my God! Amy…" Cream asked, her hand covering her mouth with shock.

"Yes…" Shadow answered, facing down. “You are really pathetic, _Sonic_. You mind-controlled Amy because you knew she could never love you legitimately. No one can ever love something as vile and evil as you!”

"Per-perhaps your right, _Shadow,_ " Sonic said, coughing as he used his left elbow as leverage to suspend himself upwards; his one good emerald eye-burning with hatred.

"I did sort of _manipulate_ her feelings, but what made that easier was that…she already loves Sonic. Yes not me, but I AM a Sonic, no?" Sonic continued, slowly pushing himself onto his knees, one of his hands firmly grasping the red Emerald.

"And I didn’t mind control her. I just corrupted her heart and soul. She made the choice to stand by me, all I had to do was nudge her. We all have this inner darkness _Shadow_.” Standing up, chills ran up everyone’s spine at the nasty grin gracing his lips.

"Here, I’ll prove it to you.” Looking at Rouge, she froze with fear. Pointing a finger at her, he released a small wave of dark red energy at her chest, causing her eyes to widen with shock.

"Rouge!" The red echidna rushed towards her aid, however, once he reached her, her form burst into an evil red aura, making her kneel on her hands and knees. The shock of energy that coursed through her body was so powerful that it blasted Knuckles several feet away.

Shadow's mouth dropped at the awful sneak attack. "What are you doing to her!?!"

"N-No Tails!"

Shadow turned and saw Cream shaking in fear as she watched his boyfriend explode in the same manner the bat did, also dropping onto his hands and knees, groaning in pain. _How did I miss him attacking him too!?_

Sonic chuckled nastily, his battered face twisting into a crazed look. His charred trench coat flapped from the sudden rush of wind that spun around him. Sparks of yellow energy flared and licked his body, making his blue fur flicker into a familiar shade of gold. His one good eye narrowed as it made the switch from green to red. Finally, he levitated, the seven Chaos Emeralds circling the still forming Master Emerald, which was about half complete at this point, started to revolve at a faster pace, shining more vividly.

Shadow growled, his fist shaking with rage. _They should have just listened to me and stayed away…_

Sonic’s body exploded in a blinding white-yellow light, as did Rouge and Tails. While Shadow looked on at the supercharged hedgehog hovering like a God before him, Cream and Knuckles had their sights on their loved ones, who were now hovering just like the golden hedgehog. They both had bright blood red eyes which sent chills down their spines.

"See? They love Sonic too, though platonically. And I’m Sonic." Sonic chuckled, which in turn made both Tails and Rouge laugh with him. "So I guess that means they are my _friends_ now."

**XXXXxxxxxxXXXX UNIVERSE 14 XXXXxxxxxxXXXX**

"Uhh, my head…ooohh…"

Rose coughed harshly from the dust particles that she accidentally inhaled when she tried to take in the fresh air. She turned over on the glossy transparent floor. Now leaning on her left side she instantly regretted it as a sudden sharp pain exploded from her back from the quick movement. She waited until the pain passed before deciding that it was okay to move. Once she shifted into a sitting position, she slowly opened her eyes, looking around her surrounding area. She gasped at what she saw.

"It's… all-glass…"

Indeed it was…or it just looked like it. What was once a beautiful church was turned into an awful wrecked abandoned church. Now, it went from that to a complete crystal glass-like structure. Its transparent appearance made it possible to see the world outside. There was nothing outside worth looking at.

Just fire…

Rose peered below her and saw the molten lava that made its way far down the never-ending abyss, taking smoldering rocks down with it.

"Amazing isn't it."

The pink hedgehog's ears perked up at the familiar voice. She turned, looking for the source.

"Sonic? Was that you? Where are you?"

"Right behind you."

The slight tap on her shoulder caused her to jump in surprise, though she remained floored. She spun towards Sonic and was about to give him a piece of her mind but instead she gasped when her eyes landed on him. Other than the large cut across his left cheek, he seemed okay. Blood dripped from the wound, the pure yellow-gold bang, which hung down his forehead, absorbing it like a piece of cotton would. Looking at his bright green orbs, she lost herself.

Her heart thumped within her ears, her tummy doing small summersaults.

Staring right back at her, he swallowed thickly, the wave of emotions drawing him into her orbit. _She’s gorgeous…_

With her glistening emerald eyes and her disheveled wavy hair, she was quite a sight to see. Rose inched her way closer to the blue hedgehog. She softly grasped his cut cheek, causing him to wince slightly as she then gently wiping the blood away. Her hand remained on his face as she continued to gaze at him. She leaned forward and so did he, their eyes fluttering shut. Inches apart each other, they moistened lips and-

Rose lowered her head, causing Sonic’s lips to connect with her head. Rose squeezed her eyes tightly, suppressing the feeling of guilt. She had almost kissed him, a good doppelganger version of her most hated foe. And what’s worse, she had nearly cheated on Shadow. Some wife she was.

"I’m-I’m sorry Ames." the blue hedgehog said, pulling her into a tight embrace, which she welcomed without any resistance.

Breathing in deeply, she exhaled, releasing some of her tension before removing herself from Sonic. “No, it’s my fault. I started it…”

“But I went along with it.”

Rose didn’t make eye contact. “It’s just…you’re amazing.”

Sonic blushed, waving a hand nonchalantly “Me? I get that a lot yah know?”

Rose snorted, feeling the moment was broken, which she honestly wasn’t so upset with. “Don’t let it go to your head, cheese-ball.” 

Sonic laughed. “Seriously, I’m truly sorry about that. You might have initiated it, but I was going along with it, but-”

“It was only because you saw her in me.”

“Exactly.”

Rose smirked mischievously. “So you finally accepted you love her!”

“Yes-no! no!” Sonic hurried said, trying to save face; still seeing that teasing smile, he threw his hand up into the air in defeat. “Yeah, I really do. I’ve been accepted that.”

Rose beamed. “Then tell her when you get back!”

Sonic gave her a friendly wink. “I will!”

“And Sonic, this never happened.”

“I don’t know what you talking about, Ames.”

Rose stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"Okay, we really should look for the Chaos Emeralds. We are in the church…it just looks different…"

“Very different.”

Sonic looked around the area and finally realized that they were on top of the church, except the top now had uhh another top? _What the?! Was another roof added to this thing?!_

"We seem to be at the top of the church, you know where I saved you and the others from the lightning pole fall." He pointed to said pole. "However, as you can see, there is another floor added to it… on top of the freaking pole. How is that possible?!"

Rose groaned in irritation, not really caring about the stupid structure of the church. This whole day and all this hell was seriously getting on her last nerve. "Who cares, let's just get downstairs! The Emeralds are probably down where we left them floating last time right?" She turned around and marched towards the stairway but stopped when a hand grasped her left arm.

"Wait Amy…" Rose whipped around with a slightly irk look before it twisted into a perplexed one when she noticed the blue hedgehog's serious expression.

"I’m injured…"

"Injured? How badly?" She asked, worriedly.

Sonic sighed, releasing her arm before wiping the blood from his cheek. "I’m also tired."

"But-But, you were-”

"I ran across the ocean at nearly light speed, got blasted by some kind of energy blast, transformed a few times, then ripped through time and space to get us here. Do you understand now?"

"…Oh…"

Sonic grumbled before he sat down on the glossy floor once more, the pink hedgehog following his lead shortly after.

"So what do we do then…I can't do this without you!"

Sonic smiled half-heartedly. "Don't worry. With the device, your Tails made me I should be up and running in about ten minutes. That is unless those Emeralds discover us…"

"Okay," Rose whispered, her gaze now focusing on the clear floor. Then she realized something.

"Hey… we can see through this-"

"Right."

Rose's eyes narrowed akin to slits. "Don’t sass me! Anyway, look if we can see through this, why can't we see the Emeralds through here?" She said, pointing to the glass floor.

"Hmm, good point…" Sonic said as he leaned against a crystal-clear support column while remaining seated. "Maybe they moved since then."

"Maybe."

A few minutes of silence followed before one of them spoke.

“You know, I really ‘get’ her,” Rose whispered.

“Get her?”

"My double, you know your Amy!" Her gaze burned into his. "You're just…It's just I'm beginning to understand why _Amy_ loves you so much and-" She faked a cough, trying to hide a rather powerful blush from consuming her face. She really didn't want to voice her feelings but she felt like she had to. She didn’t know why. Maybe it would lessen the feeling of guilt somehow, the guilt of her actions. Even though they agreed to not talk about it, she couldn’t help it. Shadow’s constant look of betrayed was just _there_ and their signed divorce papers were just dangling right in front of her and finally, her beloved walking away from her life forever, it was too much to-

“Look…Rose.”

Her heart leaped when she heard him call her ‘Rose’ instead of ‘Ames’. “Y-yes?”

“Don’t sweat it!” He grinned. “Nothing happened. We are just under a lot of stress. It’s been a long day. Heck, I sometimes wonder if it’s really been only a day! Anyway, it was just a spur of the moment like thing. I’m sure as soon as you see Shadow again and I see my Amy again, your feelings will be sorted out, okay?”

***Just a Spur of the Moment...Right?***

“Okay…Okay. You’re right!” She said, slapped the sides of her cheeks and leaping back onto her feet. “Spur of the moment?”

“Spur of the moment!”

And just like that, her worries disappearing.

"It's been a wild ride hasn't it, though?" He said, grinning. "I'm glad I met you Amy's twin.”

Rose laughed genuinely before sliding her way over his resting spot and giving him an odd yet familiar bone crushing hug, which Sonic gladly returned.

“Better now?” Sonic asked

"Yeah, let’s go!"

Sonic stood up, arching his back in a stretching motion before jumping up and down in order to shake off the numb feeling running down his legs.

They both made their way to the staircase. On their way down, with Sonic taking the lead, they looked in awe at the clear glass structure that seemed to go miles deep. After a few minutes, they began to realize that they weren't getting anywhere. It was almost as if they never moved once they entered the stairway.

"Sonic, we're not getting anywhere!"

"I figured. There must be some kind of loop or something keeping us trapped here." Sonic jerked his head, gesturing towards his back. "Hop on; I'll see if I could bust us out of here."

Rose hastily nodded and climbed on, making sure that her arms were tightly secure around his waist. The blue hedgehog took his running stance before taking off at a fast pace but to his disappointment, he quickly noticed that he wasn't getting anywhere still. With a heavy frown gracing his lips, he began to run much faster, hoping that this would solve the problem; It didn't.

"What are you doing!? Just run as fast as you can! You said it yourself we are looping!" the pink hedgehog clinging on his back hollered, nearly blowing the blue one's eardrums.

Sonic responded to that with his actions as he broke right through the sound barrier at supersonic speed. A loud roaring sound echoed throughout the stairway, the sonic boom the blue hedgehog created clearly beginning to affect his surroundings; it still wasn't enough.

So Sonic entered near light speed just as he did when he crossed the ocean. Finally, results were shown as tearing sounds began to echo through both the hedgehog's ears. _Looks like I have to do it again to get out of here…_

**Three**

**Two**

**One!**

"Chaos Warp!" once the command escaped his lips, a large tear appeared ahead of him, swallowing both of the hedgehog's whole in an instant.

* * *

The sound of the howling wind was the first thing both the hedgehogs heard when they winking into the new environment as the very same wind nearly blasted both of them off their feet. Luckily Sonic used the crystal ring on his wrist to channel Chaos energy on his feet to keep them both grounded. Rose slipped off the blue hero's back, making sure to still keep her arms around his waist as to not let the powerful wild current take her to who knows where.

"Whoa this is crazy!" Sonic shouted, though he doubted the pink hedgehog could hear him, as his green eyes watered from the strong breeze that attacked his face, never stopping its assault. Once his vision adapted to the area, he was able to see clearly and quickly focused his sights on the shimmering lights around him. The colors of the lights matched that of six of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Sonic eyes enlarged as he finally noticed that the clear floor was reflecting the-

"Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic's eyes shot upwards and sure enough, the jewels were there, gleaming as bright as ever, hovering and rotating slowly. Surprisingly, they didn't seem to affect his body as they usually did seeing as how his stomach wasn't lurching all over the place.

" ** _Whaaatt brringggs youuuu herrree hedgeeehogggg…"_**

_Hey, I recognize that voice!_

Sonic glared at the six Emeralds above him, preparing himself for the worse yet still hoping for the best. _Here goes nothing._ "I want to return to my world, the universe I belong to!"

The hedgehogs heard a loud hissing chuckle. " ** _Whhhhattt youuuu wannntttt?! Whatttt abbboouutt whaattt WEEE wannnttt!?"_**

Sonic tilted his head in confusion. "What do you all want?!"

" ** _Youuuu foollll! Our sssiiibblllinggg!"_** the hissing snake-like voice boomed out, making the very church tremble in fear.

_Sibling? Oh!_ "Oh you mean the missing red emerald! Uhh, what if I told you that I could return your missing sibling? All you have to do is send me home and I’ll bring it back!”

The church stopped vibrating angrily. _Hmm that's a good sign._

" ** _Howwww doooo weee knoooowww weee cannn thrrrussttt yooouuuuu!"_**

"Heh, you're right, you don't know if ya'll can. But how about I make ya'll a deal ehhh! If the Emerald is not here within one day, this world…you can have it!"

Rose froze. "Are you crazy!?"

"Just trust me will you…" Sonic whispered, quickly silencing her.

A loud rumble rocked the church once more, slightly cracking the floor below them.

" ** _Thrrreeee houuurssss…_** _"_

"What?! Three! Come on! Why not at least eight? Or six!?"

A deep nasty chuckle echoed once more, giving the blue hedgehog the impression that they were not going to change their minds.

" ** _Youuuu arrreee innnn noooo posssittion toooo neeegootiiiaaatttee!"_** their voice boomed out, clearly angry that an insignificant hedgehog would try to bargain with them in the first place.

Sonic contemplated his options for a few seconds and saw that there really wasn't any other way around this. But the hedgehog had faith that he could complete the task in record time. _I ain’t called the fasting thing alive for nothing!_

"Deal!"

Suddenly the whole church began to lurch and shake, more violent than ever, sending tremors down the hedgehogs' spines. Shortly after, the scenery started to shift, turn, and swirl in radical directions. Soon the entire church was gone and they were now in some kind of distorted world where everything was either black or white. The only things around were both the hedgehogs and the six Emeralds, which were still spinning rapidly above them. Everything was now quiet. Rose was in an absolute panic, which was evident from the manner she was clinging on to the blue hedgehog's arm. Sonic himself remained calm, knowing that panicking wouldn't help their situation.

" ** _Hedgehog…"_** the Emeralds' voice was now very clear, but they still kept their usual demonic tone. **_If you don't bring our sibiling back, the red one, back to us-to this world in three hours' time, you WILL find that not only will we devour this world, but we will also devour yours!"_**

"How will I know when my time is up?"

" ** _Oh, you will know…_** "

Then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge chunk of it was rewritten and new scenes were added. In the original, Cream was the one that Sonic had cast his spell on. I changed it to Tails.
> 
> “Just a Spur of the Moment” most certainly wasn’t there in the original…
> 
> Remember that though…
> 
> (Posted: 12/19/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	17. A Hero's Return

* * *

**A Hero's Return**

* * *

The next thing Shadow knew, he was sailing through the city, Sonic's gloved fist having met with his face. A bone-shaking kick connected with his chest, sending him soaring down to the pavement, the black hedgehog groaning with pain when landing

Super Sonic landed on his feet, frowning at Shadow’s prone body. "Your emotional attachments to your _former_ friends will be your downfall.” Bring his aura back to life, he crouched low, putting pressure onto his legs before launching himself back atop the skyscraper, his eyes solely locked with the reforming red Master Emerald. Once he stationed himself under the large Emerald, he side glanced Amy; she looked pretty bored. _Let’s fix that…_

"Amy."

Hearing her name called, her deep red eyes illuminated. "Hmmm?"

He chuckled. "Be a sweetheart and come over here." He beckoned her with a finger, smiling in approval when she obeyed within hesitation. He grabbed her right hand when she was within reach, giving it a light squeeze. Her eyes widened sharply, a strong burst of corrupted Chaos energy entering her body, making her shiver from the overwhelming power. Her pink fur shifted to gold-yellow, a red angry aura coating her form. Her quills lifted, her fist tightening into a ball to prevent herself from screaming from the awesome unfamiliar power integrating itself into her being. 

Her crimson eyes rolled back first before dropping back in place, the confidant that glowed from them bringing a dark smile on Sonic’s face. Amy felt amazing, almost like she was reborn, well for the second time anyway. Removing her hand from Sonic's, she admired her body's new appearance. Gone was her causal wear, a tight red battle suit now in its place, accompanied with a pair of black leather boots.

Grinning deviously, she materialized her Piko-Piko, the innocence of her precious weapon gone and turned into something evil and filled with barb wires.

“Kill him and make it painful.”

Amy laughed sinisterly. "As you wish…" Giving him a loving kiss, she leaped off the ledge, flipping and twirling her body off the roof, dive-bombing down, aiming to skewer Shadow where he struggled to stand.

Sonic cracked a grin, raising both his hands again. "How will you get yourself out of this one?”

* * *

"Uhh Tails… are you o-okay?"

He said nothing as he closed the distance between them.

"Tails?”

Cream was scared. He was stalking towards her akin to how a predator would stalk its prey before pouncing on them. His orange fur had an unnatural gold-ish tint to it, the lack of Chaos energy exposure making itself apparent from the way his hands spasms. His once gentle blue eyes were turned into a nasty malicious red color that sent chills down her spine.

Tails smiled darkly, sparks of Chaos energy tendrils running up his right arm as Cream stumbled back, nearly tripping over herself.

Without warning, the fox lunged at her, the rabbit somehow getting her feet to move and dive aside, barely avoiding Tails’s attack.

On the pavement, Cream scurried on all fours, crawling as fast as she could. She wanted to get as far as possible for him, now understanding that her possessed boyfriend won’t hesitant in harming her.

“Tails’s please! S-stop! It’s me! Cream!” She said, standing up, her legs shaking with fear.

Instead of responding, if he was even capable of doing so, he smacking his girlfriend across her cheek, spitting her bottom lip, and sending her down on her behind again. 

Cream might have not dealt with as many things as her boyfriend has, but she had seen evil and the horrible things they will do to get what they desire. Eggman is the one that stands out the most, having kidnapped her mother at one point. Since then, there has been trouble, but Eggman had seemed to back off from trying out his poorly thought out plans of ruling the world. However looking at what was occurring now, she wished Eggman would be the problem and not an evil version of her boyfriend’s best friend. And that brings another question to mind; just where _is_ the doctor? If he was somehow behind this, surely he would have shown himself by now, right?

Cream gulped. Given what she’s heard of him, yes he would have and the fact that he hasn’t? Well, something was terribly wrong. Her gaze briefly eying Sonic’s evil doppelganger, her brown eyes enlarged when he caught her glance. He gave her a ‘friendly’ wink, making her yelp. She cried out again when she remembered Tails, the fox leaping into the air, readying to slam his tails onto her head. Sidestepping, she made a run for it, trying to get as far as possible from the fox until some form of help arrived because it just _had_ to happen. It always did and usually, it comes in the form of the true blue hero, the real Sonic the hedgehog, not the imposter invading this world.

_Please Sonic! We need you!_

* * *

Knuckles’s lips tightened, his hands raised and pointed knuckles ready for battle. He refused to let Rouge intimidate him, unfortunately, he couldn’t stop his skin from crawling from the manner her ruby orbs burned into his purple ones.

A golden aura hugged her form, the blinding light disappearing, revealing her new transformed look. Her white fur, which was replaced with a goldish-cream color, told him that she was juiced with Chaos energy and knowing the bat and her lack of personal exposure to Chaos power, he knew that there was no way that she was in control of herself.

Rouge licked her lips, tiny fangs poking from the top, nearly puncturing the bottom; her pointed angled ears gave her a devilish appearance. “Let’s play Knucklehead" The bat purred taunting, seductiveness oozing from her voice.

"Rouge… you don’t have to do this. Remember, Sonic is controlling you, so snap out of it!" The echidna growled.

The bat chuckled smoothly. "I know he is."

Knuckles looked at her incredulity. "W-what? Then why are you not-”

She laughed, cutting him off. "Because I like it." Her left hand flared with pure red Chaos energy. “It’s liberating! It’s as Master said.”

“M-master?!”

“We all have darkness in our hearts, in our souls. All he did is bring it out.” Rouge licked her lips again, her fingers crackling as she raised them, Chaos energy racing through each digit.

“Honestly I’m glad he did. Do you know why I was with you? Because you _changed me_. All that time we spent on your island, near the shrine where your big ol’ jewel was, I had a plan you see. My plan had been to steal it again, but you were obviously there protecting it and when you weren’t on the island, you had it with you. So I decided to earn your trust by spending time with you and eventually, and unfortunately for me, I learned to just like _being_ there with _you_. The jewel, it became irrelevant. I wanted you more than the jewel and that-that-” Rouge growled as her emotions showed themselves through her tears. “Want to become a _need_.”

Knuckles swallowed thickly, his body shaking and his heart racing for a totally different reason now. “N-need?”

“Dimwitted as ever! I fell in love with you! Not just like, like some stupid teenage crush! I’m in love with you _!_ ” 

Knuckles was stunned. Sure they have said they love each other, though usually, he mumbled it, but _in_ love was another different thing. That spelled commitment or at least he thought it did and well, he wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Her crimson eyes fleetingly shined that beautiful green jewel color he loved, the look of pain in them making his insides turn, and well right there he knew; he knew that he never wanted to see that pained look in her orbs again. _God, I am a dumbass!_

He chose to ignore the whole stealing the jewel subject because he had known her stupid game back them. She didn’t really want to steal it anymore, not after the Ark incident. She just wanted to play cat and mouse with him. She even admitted this years ago, or maybe she had been lying? No, he doubted it. This evil Sonic was the problem. He’s messing with her mind and she in turn was messing with his; But the love, when she said it, the split second of jewel eyes peeking out from that thick layer of deep red, he could tell that she was _not_ lying. His heart was telling him she wasn’t and there was no way in hell he was going to ignore it; not when he needed it now more than ever to save her, to bring her back to normal, to bring her back to him.

“I know what you are thinking! And it’s not true! I do love you too!”

“Bullshit!”

“I do. In fact, I’m just as in love with you as you are with me!”

Rouge laughed nastily, her fangs biting her lower lip, causing a trail of blood to travel down her chin. “I don’t want your love any longer. I don’t want to feel this way and in order to do that, I have to do what my Master asks of me, and that is to kill you. Once you’re out of the picture, I will take that precious jewel from your corpse and hand it over to my Master and he will grant me my wish! And that is to erase you from my mind forever!”

She fired her attack directly at the red echidna before he could respond, however, Knuckles was ready for this and hurled himself out of the way. Knuckles grunted, feeling dazed from the sudden direct hit from her right boot, his head exploding with pain. He knew Rouge's kicks were powerful, their Ark battle and their frequent training sessions proving that, but again, that was _training (she tells him that their Ark fight was her playful side. He didn’t believe her.)_. Here, she was trying to kill him. _Adding Chaos energy to those kicks makes her even deadlier._

Once he regained his bearings, he glared at the evil smiling bat, who was yet again stalking him, waiting for him to make a mistake to catch him off guard. He took a quick glance at the huge forming Master Emerald on the skyscraper and noticed the seven Chaos Emeralds hovering around the evil hedgehog.

That's when an idea hit him. _Duh!_

* * *

He groaned, his head pounding consistently from the unbearable pain running through it. It didn't help that the rest of his body had received the same treatment, Sonic practically burying him deep into the concrete. The black hedgehog had been ready for another round with the evil hedgehog but had gotten sidetracked when the bastard pulled an underhanded attack on two of his companions. This new ability of his, he has to break all of them out of it. Right now, Knuckles is the only one that could help, since Cream does not know how to fight.

He lolled sideways before rolling onto his back. His dazed red eyes remained focused on the bright sky above, the evening sun burning down on his dark-furred skin. He groaned as he tried to stand up, well at least get on all fours anyway.

That's when he heard it and _saw_ it.

A sudden boost of adrenaline coursed through him as he willed himself to push himself to the side, wincing as he scrapped his shoulder on the pavement. The sound of shattering concrete shook him enough to open his orbs.

Pulling her barbwire hammer from the crushed ground, her ruby eyes locked with his, the sound of clicking footsteps akin to a pair of cowboy boots thumping against a hard surface. She leisurely strode towards him at first before breaking into a full run, signifying that he _needed_ to get up now, or he’s as good as dead.

With pure adrenaline still coursing through him, he leaped out of the incoming spiked hammer’s path, staggering when his feet touched the ground.

Shadow’s eyes widened when again he was forced to dive to safety, the large hammer easily ripping the ground again. A golden blur took him off guard by slamming into him, the user of the weapon angling it so that she could swing it sideways, hoping to break his ribs, however, the black hedgehog was able to avoid the attack by expertly jumping on top of the flat surface of it, pressing down before springing of it, landing behind his enemy.

"You're not going to make this easy for me are you?"

Shadow breathed deeply, exhaustion written across his face. He frowned, hating to see that Amy was his opponent _. And transformed to make it worse. Damn it Sonic!_

"What's wrong? Can’t bring yourself to hurt little ol’ me?" She teased, pouting cutely.

"Rose-"

She snickered. “Rose? So blinded by love that you just can’t stop seeing _her_ when you look at me, can you?”

He cursed, knowing that she was one-hundred percent right.

"This isn't you…let's not do this! I don’t want to fight you!"

She laughed, twirling her spiked huge hammer by the halt. "You don't have a choice."

_Sometimes I wish their voices weren't identical…_ And damn if she didn’t look so appealing in gold. Shadow wasn’t one for good-girls turned bad, but if he was- _Not the time Shadow._

"Heart Breaker!" A golden heart-shaped blast of energy was hurled at the unprepared wide-eyed black hedgehog, who took the attack head first, sending him sailing across the shattered streets. Rolling onto his feet, the female hedgehog was on him, using her ridiculously big hammer to continuously try to take his head off.

"Chaos Bolt!"

"Shit!” Shadow yelped. Knowing how powerful that attack was, he thought quickly and used his newly acquired move, 'Chaos Reflect', to redirect the blast right back at her, which she carelessly swatted away while running at a breakneck speed with her hammer held up high. _I can't face her in my current state! I have to transform also...Sonic has the Emeralds here, so that shouldn’t be a problem…_

With that in mind, the black hedgehog was able to again avoid another swing of her hammer by leaping sky high before landing behind her. Amy smirked knowingly as she performed a roundhouse kick, nailing Shadow in the stomach, making him gasp and grab his assaulted area. The super hedgehog used this to her advantage by placing her palm to the back of his exposed head, release a devastating Heart Breaker, flattening into the ground. She flipped off of him, landing safely.

She smiled wickedly as she prepared to complete her mission however to her amazement, a sudden hand shot up from below and grabbed the front end of the hammer, putting a stop to the finishing blow.

Reeling her in, Shadow side kicked her in the stomach, a golden aura blazing wildly from his body. Grabbing the doubled over female hedgehog, he head-butted her, pulled the hammer from her, and slammed it against her ribs, sending her backwards.

He knew the barbwires wouldn’t hurt her because of her super transformation, well not much, since he was also transformed. _If I can just knock her out, I can go after Sonic and end this…_

* * *

As far back as he could remember, maybe since the day he was born, he has been serving his ancestors by protecting the Master Emerald from any harm. Therefore he knew a lot more about all the mystical jewels than anybody else. Imagine his surprise when a certain blue hedgehog was the one to discover the ability to transform using the Chaos Emeralds. He had always known that the seven jewels had massive amount of power, it's just that he didn't know that when one collected them all, they could utilize all of it and center it to one particular source, that being one's own self. Sonic was the one that had shown him the super transformation and when he did, the echidna berated himself for not being the one to make such a discovery. It was an insult since _he_ is the guardian of all the jewels and at the time he wanted nothing more than to ram his fist down the cocky hedgehog's throat, even though he knew that he really did nothing wrong. But over time, as he grew to befriend the blue hedgehog, he realized that it didn't matter. If he never met him he would still be clueless to this day since most of the old literature written on the ancient tablets was too faded to read and understand.

Even with all his knowledge added to what Sonic had shown him, he still didn't understand back then why the hedgehog was able to transform so easily while he always struggled with it. It just didn't make sense! He had more than enough Chaos Energy within him so why couldn't he do it just as easily as Sonic? He was near the Master Emerald all day, every day! So one day he had enough and decided to get answers by marching down the fox's house and demand for Sonic to stand still so he could get a reading on his Chaos energy level. To his astonishment, he found out that the hedgehog was literarily a walking Chaos Emerald! There wasn't a cell in his body that didn't have some trace of Chaos energy. However not too long ago, he learned from the Shadow from another universe that all that power came with a price. Every living thing on this planet had some amount of Chaos energy within them, but having too much and adding on to it by using the Chaos Emeralds, which were pure Chaos, was like adding more fuel to the fire. Eventually, after continuous use, one could simply overload and pretty much explode. Though he was thankful that he wasn't at any risk for an overloading episode, he also felt that he was cursed because of the limited amount of Chaos energy impaired him from transforming without difficulty.

But this was not the case here. Sonic's evil counterpart had pretty much flooded the city with Chaos energy, so transforming was well within his power. So transform he did when he saw that he was getting his ass handed to him by a certain possessed bat-girl.

"Finally going to get serious huh Knux?" She cooed as she stared at the super echidna, who now sported a pinkish-red fur color.

Knuckles just frowned, not liking this situation one bit.

"We don't have to do this bat-girl. You said it yourself, you have control or at least some, use it! Fight it! And then we can stop Sonic!”

Rouge's ruby eyes narrowed, her hands beginning to tint a dark green as she calmly sauntered towards her enemy, her aura igniting on the way. "I told you! I want to fight you! I want to kill you! I don’t want to love you! I want you out of my head! And Master promised to do that if I do as he says!”

Knuckles reacted quickly as soon as the bat fired her Chaos energy attack by deflecting it with a supercharged fist, sending it right back at her. She hastily leaped out of the way before running at full speed towards him, readying her signature high heel kick in which the echidna counter by catching it, before delivering a big fist to her stomach. The bat leaped back, performing a move of her own by lifting her foot head high, connecting her foot with her opponent's fist, creating a staggering mini earthquake around them. They both broke apart after, rushing towards each other again, colliding in a series of attacks with Knuckles using his fists while Rouge used her feet.

"Black Wave"

"Thunder Arrow!"

Both signature moves clashed against each other creating a wild explosion.

"Do you really believe he gives a shit about what you want? He’ll throw you out like trash as soon as he gets what he wants!”

Rouge growled, disliking the insult to her master as she dashed madly at the echidna, who just raised his fist, ready for her next attack.

Knuckles threw his fist as soon as she was within touching distance, but to his amazement the bat ducked and delivered a sideways kick at to his skull, sending him flying in the air, eyes fully shut from the pain the hit caused. _Her speed increased…_

"Chaos Bolt!"

Knuckle's eyes widen as he barely avoided the attack by doing a mid-air-flip instinctively, coming at a stand-still as he was still in the air from her last successful attack. Knuckles, surprised that he was hovering in the air instantly recovered his composure when realizing that since he was in his super form, he could indeed fly. _Ugh, how could I forget!_

Glaring at him with pure malice, Rouge took an aerial fighting stance.

"So we are taking this to the air now huh?"

Knuckles grimaced, getting ready to reply but a terribly frightened scream caught his attention. The echidna whipped his head around to the source and his eyes widened when he saw the source of the cry.

“Damn it, Cream! I forgot about those two!”

* * *

Cream continued to run as her life depended on it, which it did. Eventually, she had to use her barely used ability; flight. _He’s toying with me…_ Cream jumped and flapped her large ears. She smiled when she went higher and higher into the sky.

The rabbit could literally feel the fox’s gleaming crimson eyes burning into her skull as she continued to fly as high as her ears would take her.

Cream groaned at the burning pain coming from her ears from overusing them. Looking down, she realized maybe flying hadn’t been the smartest idea; she was much too high and her ears were starting to give out. _Oh, God!_

Suddenly, Cream was blown by a powerful gust of wind, sending her higher into the air. Her arms waved manically in a poor attempt to stop her descent from the sky. She began to cry, knowing that if she didn’t stop her fall, it was all over for her.

"Cream! Hold on! I’m coming for-"

Unfortunate Knuckles wasn't able to finish as he got silenced by a white boot to the face, sending him further from the rabbit.

Tails watched with gleeful blood-red eyes as his girlfriend went down. Once she slams into the pavement, he was done and he can report back to his best friend and Master, Sonic.

_Oh no this is the end ohgodohgodohgod!_

That's when she saw it.

A pink and blue blur blazing past her for a split second before the blur returned this time only one color.

_Blue._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: chunks of it rewritten, new scenes added (biggest one, Knuckles + Rouge conflicting love confession) and of course, Tails being creepily evil instead of Cream (honestly, the evil bunny was worse lol). Hopefully, I was able to spot and remove all the times I stated Cream to be the evil one instead of Tails.
> 
> (Posted: 12/20/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	18. Super Sonic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: WARNING! DRAGON BALL-LIKE FIGHTING FROM HERE ON OUT!
> 
> Sorry, it just is hard for me to describe aerial fights (writing fighting scenes, in general, is already an issue) without it turning out like DBZ.
> 
> Hopefully, this doesn’t trigger you and you can still enjoy it. I think it turned out well. Besides, you’re already almost there! There only 4 chapters left after this on-wait? Didn’t I say this story has 21 chapters? ;)

* * *

**Super Sonic**

* * *

He Jumps.

He Dives.

He Catches.

He Rolls.

He Lands.

He did it so fast that no one saw anything more than a blue blur. He held the rabbit, who was holding onto him in a death grip and was shaking like a leaf. The rabbit pulled from her savior's rapidly thumping chest and looked up, coming face to face with a bright but tired friendly smile.

"Hey, there little lady…sorry I was late for the party…"

"S-Sonic? Is that really you?" She was still a bit dazed from the fall.

The hedgehog's smile brightened as he placed Cream down. “Of course it is! Who else can be as blue as m-oh…yeah.” His smile dropped.

"I can’t believe it’s really you… I thought you were gone for good…"

Sonic chuckled warmly, ruffling his buddy’s girlfriend, tousling her ears, making her smile.

Cream pointed a shaky finger behind the blue hedgehog. “Sonic…”

"Hmm?" Sonic turned and noticed his buddy, stalking towards them, with death glowing from his red eyes. Sonic frowned, dread filling his body. “What’s going on, Cream?”

That’s when he felt the spike of Chaos energy all around him. “Whoa!”

With lightning speed, he momentary analyzed the situation. Of course, immediately he spotted the state the city was in since that was kinda hard to miss when he was standing right in the middle of it. He saw no people, well, no one alive that is, which angered him deeply. His eyes widened at the sight of a pinkish-red blur clashing with a white-goldish one, each giving it their all in a seemingly death battle. His eyes then shifted up and that's when he saw it.

Saw _him._

The blue-turned-gold devil himself, with his eyes, calmly shut, floating high on the tallest skyscraper in the city. The seven Chaos Emeralds were elegantly spinning around his form, gleaming brilliantly along with what looked like a larger Emerald akin to the-

"Master Emerald… why is it red, Cream? Is it tainted or something?"

The rabbit shook her head. "Uhh it is the Master Emerald and it is tainted, but that's not the reason why it's red. That's just how the jewel looks like since it's the one from the alternate universe the other you came from."

"I see…it was somehow shattered and now he's trying to put it together right?"

Cream nodded in confirmation. "Yup."

Sonic sighed, hating how bad things have gotten since he’s been missing. _Man, I was hoping I could at least take a thirty-minute nap before taking evil me out._ "I saw Rouge and Knuckles fighting, so one of them is under ‘other me’s’ spell?"

“Rouge.”

“Damn it.”

Panic consumed Cream’s body, the rabbit shrieking when she saw Tails jump and swing his tails at her.

“Sorry, buddy.”

With amazing speed and strength, Sonic elbow dropped the fox’s head, knocking him unconscious.

Cream cringed. “You didn’t have to do it like that.” She said, dropped down and checking on him.

Sonic grimaced, hating to see his buddy in such poor shape. “I had too. He’s transformed and I’m not. Luckily, Tails isn’t familiar with Chaos energy, so I was easily able to take him out as I am now. But he’ll be fine, trust me.”

Cream nodded, softly running her hand through her boyfriend’s hair.

Sonic’s heart sank when he saw his possessed Amy fighting Shadow, obviously aiming to kill him.

Cream watched a pink hedgehog, identical to Amy, rush towards the fight with Shadow and Amy. 

“That’s her isn’t it? Rose he calls her, the version of Amy that’s his wife. I want to meet her!” Cream said, clearly excited.

"Heh, right after this mess is cleaned up you sure can…"

* * *

He couldn't do it. He just couldn't anymore. Continuously attacking someone that looked like his Rose was tearing his heart apart. He had transformed to protect himself, hoping that she would somehow exhaust herself out with each evasion he did but every single time he did he couldn't help but ask himself how much longer could he keep this up. When he originally came here, he had only one thing in mind and that was to finish Sonic off once and for all. However, at that time, he had thought that he was ready to go one on one with him, even after the awful beating the hedgehog had given him the previous day. Now he regretted it. He was absolutely spent to the point that he was hanging on his last leg while in the middle of his fight with his wife's possessed counterpart. She was relentless, using everything from Sonic’s arsenal of attacks, Chaos Bolts to his Chaos Control, and his ridiculously over powered Wind Blades. Even while in his super form, he still was completely outclassed. _I can’t…do it…_

And what’s crazy is that she wasn’t familiar with Chaos Energy. _No doubt Sonic’s doing…_

"What's wrong? tired?" The female golden hedgehog taunted, letting loose another Heart Breaker, which catches him on the chest, sending exploding shockwaves everywhere. As the debris cleared, Shadow was revealed on his hands and knees, gasping in pain.

Shadow's form flickered between cream-gold and black, his aura fading before flaring back up, determination alone keeping him from reverting back to his normal state. "Damn it…" he cursed, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Amy laughed, her spiked hammer spinning in her hand skillfully. "I can end your pain you know… just lay down and-" Her bright red eyes widened, freezing in shock.

"Shadow!"

The hedgehog choked, completely stunned by the voice he heard. Though their voices are identical, he now just realized that _hers_ was less high pitched and more mature than the one from this world. _It… it can't… R-Rose?_

His question was answered once he felt a pink blur tackle him, clutching on to his battered chest as her life depended on it. A single tear escaped his left eye as he felt tears that were not his own cascading down against him. He pulled hurried, with trembling hands, pushed her gently backwards to get a good look at her face just to make sure that this wasn't a cruel joke.

He wasn't disappointed.

Her watered emerald orbs gazed at his own lovingly, making him swallow terse laughter that threatened to slip out of his busted lips, which were caked with his own dry blood. She smiled weakly as she wiped the clotted blood from his lips, not knowing exactly what to say now that they were reunited. So instead, she just brought him into another more proper hug to which he returned eagerly.

"S-shouldn't we have kissed like in those movies you like so much and force me to watch?" He teased, refusing to release his hold on his wife.

Rose choked out a dry laugh. "No, I think we should save that for later." She then smirked even though the black hedgehog couldn't see it. "Besides, now I kinda realize how silly it would look. You wouldn't want me to burst out laughing during the kiss huh?"

He laughed.

Rose just smiled genuinely before pulling away so he could see it as she patted his right cheek affectionately.

"So the cheap copy of mine finally makes her appearance.”

Both the seated hedgehog whipped around to see the possessed hedgehog smirk maliciously, her crimson eyes shimmering curiously at the turn of events.

Rose frowned, fury coursing through her veins. "So this is the other me…she's somehow different from what I was told."

Shadow coughed while standing up, the pink hedgehog following his lead. "She's not like that at all. Sonic corrupted her and some of the others from this universe. I guess he can do that now."

Rose growled, having already seen the evil hedgehog on the building while making her way here. "Yeah…I knew there was something fishy going on when I saw Tails looking strange when Sonic dropped me off."

Shadow's raised a brow, though it looked weird since he was currently facing away from the pink hedgehog. No way was he going to take his eyes off the super hedgehog before him.

"Sonic? His counterpart?" He didn’t like how causal she said _his_ name. It had no malice to it like it normally did when she says it. _No, I don’t just not like it. I hate it…_

Rose smiled warmly, liking that her husband caught on quickly. "Sure is and I gotta tell you he's amazing!" Shadow's brow twitched, starting to not like where this was going. The pink hedgehog, realizing his irk look, waved her hands comically, trying to reassure him that she met it in the friendliest manner. "It's not what you think! God stop being so jealous!"

Shadow grunted, letting it slide for now as they had more important mattered to deal with. "So where is he now?"

Rose jerked her thumb back towards the direction she came from. "Probably dealing with crazy Miles."

If the situation wasn't so bad, Shadow probably would have laughed at her calling the fox crazy. Just then Shadow's aura depleted, indicating that his time transformed was up.

Amy grinned as her eyes widened, covering her mouth in a mocking manner, ‘shocked’ that Shadow lost his power. "Uh oh looks like your times up!"

Shadow took an uneasy step back, shoving Rose protectively behind him, readying to fight to the very end even if he knew he was pretty much useless at this point.

That's when a certain trench coat wearing hedgehog snapped his eyes open.

* * *

“Time for me to step in!” Gripping his fists, his body flashed a calm gold, a blinding light covering the area.

Tails, who had awakened, gawked at his brother in awe while Cream smiled, hoping that Super Sonic could put an end to the nightmare that was his doppelganger.

That’s when his twin’s power rose.

* * *

"Damn it how can he be alive! I cannot allow this…this imposter to remain in the living!" The twisted hedgehog cried out, his aura exploding furiously, his trench coat mysteriously changing from blood red to a bright white while his golden quills lengthened upwards, becoming slightly needle sharp on the ends. His attention turned to the Master Emerald, which was still incomplete, a quarter of it missing. He frowned.

"It's taking too long! No matter, I should be able to finish him and the rest off as I am!" Blinded by rage, he rose from his place, blasting down to his counterpart.

* * *

Shadow and Rose went wide-eyed at the sudden surges of Chaos energy in two different places in the city. One was pure evil while one was pure good.

Amy’s eyes gleamed with delight. "Looks like my sweet Sonic is ready…" She said, leaping into the air, doing a twirl before flying off to where evil Sonic was.

Shadow, realizing that things are about to heat up turned his back towards Rose. "Hop on, we have to go after her!"

Rose nodded, clutching on him tightly as the black and red hedgehog raced off at a steady pace.

_Feels like home…_ Rose thought happily.

* * *

Super Sonic waited patiently, feeling the evil version of him closing in.

Then a red blur came smashing down close to Tails, who jumped at the sudden impact that nearly took him out. The blur was Knuckles and boy had he seen better days. He was totally trashed what with one of his eyes bruised shut while the other was barely open. His chest was blackened and his pointed knuckles weren't so pointed anymore.

The fox hurriedly rushed to the echidna's aid while Sonic winced at his battered red friend was. "Jeez Knux, get in a fight with a crazed lion or something?"

The echidna coughed, indicating he’ll live. "Ugh...try a crazed bat. Goo-good to see you again Sonic…at least the good one…"

Sonic smiled. "Are you going to be okay?"

Knuckles gave him a weak thumbs up. "I've been in worse situations."

Rouge, who had been watching the interaction with interest, remained airborne, waiting patiently for her master to come. Seconds later her companion, Amy, joined her.

Amy’s counterpart and the black hedgehog appeared next after as the latter crouched down so Rose could hop off his back.

"So you're the other Sonic…"

"So you're the other Shadow…"

Shadow ‘hmphed’.

"Likewise." Sonic didn’t really care how he felt about him. He was tired of people hating him because he looked like his evil counterpart.

Tails, who was amazed at the pink hedgehog in front of him, suddenly had hearts swarming in his eyes. _Wow… I don't know what it is but she looks so different to me!_

Rose, noticing her fox's counterpart staring at her strangely, smiled weakly. "Hi Miles…"

"Hi…"

Rose giggled lightly, making Tails's heart skip a beat. "Aww, I think he has a crush on me! So cute!" She gushed as she hugged him tightly, making the fox melt into a puddle of goo.

Sonic facepalmed with embarrassment. "You know Tails, your girlfriend is standing right there."

This comment made the fox stiffen. He turned to face Cream, gulping fearfully when he saw steam blowing out of her large ears. Rose shook her head at their antics, before moving onto the beaten-down echidna, who gave a small smile as a greeting, which she returned. She was extremely glad to see him again even though he wasn't the Knuckles she knew. It's unfortunate that she couldn't say the same for the bat since she currently wasn't herself.

Sonic's eyes narrowed, watching carefully as his evil double finally made his appearance.

"You know." He started calmly, landing next to his servants, his aura fading. "I thought I killed you-"

"Oops, looks like you missed!"

Evil Sonic growled, hating the interruption, but nevertheless continued."-but seeing _her_ -" he pointed to the glaring pink hedgehog, smiling nastily. "Here just proves the theory I had some time ago. That my attack _would_ have ended your life instead of warped you to my universe had it not been for _this_ thing!" He shouted as he yanked out the cracked red emerald, which was the one missing from his universe, out of his trench coat pocket, clutching it tightly. "However, it doesn't matter anymore because I won't make the same mistake again!"

Sonic stepped forward, a somber expression written on his face. He then laughed, causing his evil counterpart to raise a brow. "And just what's so funny?"

He shook his head. "It's just that usually in world in jeopardy predicaments it's Eggman who's behind it. So for it to be caused by an evil version of me uhh well I just thought that I'd never see the day.”

The trench coat wearing hedgehog snorted. "Ha 'evil version of me'? Don't make me laugh you happy-go-lucky freak! I am the original! No, I'm one of a kind! I have no equal! How dare you even think of comparing yourself to me?!"

Sonic eyes widened to the sizes of dinner plates. "Ha! You might be the original version of me in YOUR universe, but in here, in MY universe I am the original! So, therefore, you are a copy of me because this is my universe. If we were in yours, then you can say you’re the ‘original’!”

His evil twin looked at him like he had sprouted two heads. "Stop talking nonsense! You shouldn't even exist and I'm going to make sure you don't! I don't care what it takes! I will be the only one left once I kill you and every fucking copy of me in EVERY universe!"

"You're insane!"

"That's what I said…" Shadow agreed, remembering the twisted hedgehog's speech about collecting all the Master Emeralds in all the universes back in Angel Island.

The power-hungry Sonic grinned madly, showing that he indeed had hundreds of screws loose. He then paused, remembering something his counterpart said. "Hmmm, when you said 'Eggman', were you referring to Dr. Robotnik?"

The possessed Amy’s sudden giggle caught everyone's attention. "He hasn't called himself that in ages! He prefers Dr. Eggman…well he _did_ before you know…"

For some reason, our blue hero felt that he was going to find out something that he'd rather not know. "Wh-what do you mean _did,_ Ames?"

Evil Sonic smirked wickedly, increasing the sick feeling his counterpart felt. "Well, I kinda killed him."

Sonic as well as the others turned pale in horror, not believing what they were hearing.

"No…you didn’t.”

The evil hedgehog smirked. “I did. Try to look for him. I bet you’ll never even find his body.”

Sonic took a step back in shock. “You monster! I may not have liked him, heck I pretty much downright hated him, but I _never_ would have wanted him dead!"

Though Shadow and Rose didn't voice it, they too would never have wanted such a fate for the mad doctor of their world. They may have not liked him, but the weird thing was that he just wasn't nearly as bad as the bastard before them was, so the thought of wanting him dead never crossed their minds (though wasn’t he the reason Sonic was so evil?). As for the hedgehog, well he killed Knuckles and Rouge along with Miles's parents… also not to mention the thousands of people over the years. Yes he, as bad as it sounds, they wanted him dead. It's all just too much and since nothing can hold him, there really weren’t any other options.

The devilish Sonic snorted. "If anything, I did you a favor right? From what I read in his files, he's been trying to dispose of you for years! Now you have nothing to worry about…not that that matters since you won't live to see another day…none of you will!" He said before his wicked expression turned into a thoughtful one. "That is unless you want to join me…" He offered.

"However, the black hedgehog and my copy do not have that option. You both WILL die today!"

The bat smiled evilly as she looked at the battered Knuckles, who could barely stand. "It really is wonderful Knuxie. Don’t you love me? You said you did. We can be together forever if you join! Master has opened my eyes and now I could see as he does. The universe… all of them could be ours. We could live as Gods!"

Finally, Amy spoke, making the golden hero’s rage spike. "Fortunately for me, I have what I’ve always wanted. I guess that's what happens when you finally make your move instead of continuing to be a coward." Sonic's eyes narrowed fiercely, refusing to show just how much those words hurt him.

"Annnd I most certainly wouldn't mind another Rose. After all two is better than one right?" The evil hedgehog said lecherously, making said pink hedgehog gag in pure disgust as Shadow growled protectively. Despite what he said, as soon as he got his Rose, he will dispose of the one of this universe. Just like this _Sonic_ can’t compare to him, so can’t this Rose compare to _his_.

Sonic, having enough of all this 'join us' nonsense, activated his aura again. "None of them are stupid enough to join you! What you are trying to accomplish is impossible! As for those two standing by you, they don't even know what they are saying! They are saying what you want them to say!" he said as he walked to his evil counterpart. "No one should have the type of power you have! I will not allow you to play God anymore!"

Evil Sonic activated his own aura, nearly blowing his servants away as he swaggered towards his copy. "Play God?! I AM GOD!" He roared as they both exploded off the ground, their fist cocked and loaded.

A thunderous shockwave shook Station Square when both their fist met.

This was it.

The beginning of the final battle between good and evil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Changes, changes, changes, blah blah blah lol
> 
> Later dudes!
> 
> (Posted: 12/21/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	19. The Other Me Part 1

* * *

**The Other Me (Part 1)**

* * *

As they first met, one of the hedgehogs overpowered the other as an outstanding otherworldly shockwave exploded within the city turned battlefield, sending the loser soaring through the air, tearing painfully into the city streets when landing. The evil hedgehog groaned in pain as he burst from the crater, cutting through the air, meeting his enemy head-on before bouncing off each other again, both landing on the ground, making the concrete shatter from the sheer power coming out in ways.

"Super Sonic Wind!" the hero yelled, having the upper hand so far.

"Chaos Control!" his doppelganger countered, escaping to safety, the deadly blue wind hitting empty space.

The evil Sonic came from behind the good one, delivering a powerful kick to his spine, making him purse his lips into a thin line, stopping a scream from tearing from his throat. Thinking quickly, the golden hero pressed his hands down against the pavement, pushing himself backwards, smashing his elbow on the golden villain's unguarded face, sending him hurling to the darkening sky. The evil hedgehog halted while airborne, growling with anger as he rocketed to the ground with a cocked fist, but his good counterpart tucked inward and curved to the side, making his fist tear the ground instead. Seeing his exposed back, our hero did a homing attack, making the evil hedgehog arch his back in agony. He followed up with a roundhouse kick to his temple, sending him into a building, the collision causing the structure to tremble.

The others watched in awe as the evil Sonic burst from the crumbled building with speeds that broke the sound barrier towards his nemesis, colliding with him over and over again, neither of them willing to give up.

"You know, I'm beginning to think that _Sonic_ isn't a name I want anymore… not after meeting the likes of you!" The evil hedgehog spat, evading an incoming punch from his counterpart.

"Oh really? Good cause I don't want you sullying _my_ name, which has a reputation I worked so hard for!" He shouted angrily, avoiding a kick that would have surely dislocated his right arm had it connected.

The evil hedgehog growled viciously at his blunder as he quickly turned things around by grabbing his counterpart by the head, placing him into a headlock, trying to choke him to death.

"Blah, your reputation won’t matter once you’re dead!" He tossed the hero into the air, blasting after him, continuing his assault. "However, my reputation will be known across the multiverse! Everyone will fear the name **Alpha!** " He said, smashing a right hook against Sonic’s face, causing blood to spittle from his lips as he fell down.

Sonic recovered by somersaulting into a handstand before springing into the air, curling into a tight golden sphere and propelling himself like a cannonball. His evil counterpart, now referring to himself as ‘Alpha’, drifted to the left, to avoid the attack but the golden hero outsmarted him by curving around him, smashing right into his back, sending him skyrocketing higher into the air.

"Alpha? Heh, you really are full of yourself!" Sonic spat as he uncurled while mid-air before rushing to his counterpart, who at the moment was nowhere to been seen. "Huh? Where he go?"

"Behind you fool!" Sonic's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets from the sudden blow to the top of his head, making him see stars of all colors. "Chaos Bolt, Full Power!"

A quickly charged massive ball of Chaos energy slipped from his palm, descending to the helplessly stunned hedgehog, making direct contact, causing serious damage. Our hero hissed in pain, smoke trailing from his body as he was sent crashing into the ground harshly. Alpha landed next to Sonic, smirking arrogantly.

"Looks like I have you beat!"

"Think again!" Sonic winked out from his sight.

"What?!"

Alpha’s eyes widened as our hero grabbed his left arm tightly before swinging him once, twice, and then a third time. Releasing him and then tightening a fist, Sonic's expression took a thoughtful look. _Let's see if I can do this_ … a pure amount of Chaos energy bloomed with his hand. Next, he cocked the bright white orb covering his fists back. "Pure Chaos Bolt!" he mocked his counterpart as he blasted his attack at the malicious hedgehog, who screamed in pain when it touched his skin, his skin sizzling like freshly cooked bacon on a sunny morning.

And then he was gone, completely fading from sight.

"Master!" His servants cried out, shocked at what they just saw.

Sonic sighed as he stumbled and crouched tiredly. "He's…he's not gone… he'll be back." He coughed as his aura left him, turning back to normal.

Shadow, Rose, Tails, Cream along with a limping Knuckles, rushed towards the exhausted hedgehog.

The fox was instantly kneeling by his side. "Sonic? Are you okay?"

His friend nodded with weary eyes, giving him a weak smile. "Yeah…It's just that I'm exhausted. Ames and I over here had one heck of a ride on the other side."

"Yeah I'll say…" Rose agreed… _This reminds me!_ "Sonic! We have to hurry and return my universe's Emerald back! Surely it's been more than an hour since-"

Sonic groaned while Shadow and the others looked at both of them confusingly. "I'm sure we still have time…" he cut in.

Shadow, not liking the secrecy jumped in. "Okay, just what the hell are you both talking about?!"

Rose pressed her lips together. "Well it-"

That's when a disheveled hobbling Alpha appeared

"Master!" The corrupted pink-turned-gold hedgehog cried out as she rushed towards his burnt form. Her Master slapped her aside, not in the mood to receive affection, surprising the hedgehog as she cupped her left stinging cheek.

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Sonic growled, standing back up, preparing himself for anything the evil hedgehog might try next.

Alpha looked downright horrible, absolutely wrecked. His white trench coat was tattered and ripped in all places while his body wore dozens of third-degree burns and scuffs marks. His useless left eye now truly _looked_ useless as it was swollen shut, baring a sickening purple color. To make it worse, he was no longer transformed.

"You…" his face tightened.

"Look what you have done to me…how _DARE_ you…" He said again, his voice rising as he clutched his fists, his body shaking with fury.

Tails gulped as Shadow, Rose, Cream, Sonic, and Knuckles prepared themselves for the worse.

Alpha Sonic's one emerald eye shot open, a crazed look appearing across his face. An eerie silence then followed before all hell broke loose.

" **I WILL KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO MEEEE!"** The insane hedgehog roared as his body exploded into a radical show of gold, red and black, his levitating form making the whole city rumbling from the sheer rage that was expelled out of him.

"Oh, God! He’s getting stronger!" Rose cried out over the powerful wind that would have sent her away if it were not for a certain black hedgehog, who instantly grabbed her and used a light pole to stay grounded. Tails, Cream, and Knuckles were not as fortunate as they were sent flying away since they had nothing to grab on to.

"No!" Sonic yelled as he forced himself to turn into Super Sonic, rushing off to save his three friends. However, his advances were put to a stop as a familiar spiked hammer nailed him across the head, hard, sending him smashing right into the ground roughly.

The hurt super hedgehog rolled into a crouching position, digging his fingering into the pavement, activating the grounding ability he had learned in the alternative universe. He glared hurtfully at the possessed female hedgehog, who smiled mischievously.

"I don't think so! You'll have to get through me to save them!" Corrupted Amy said haughtily as her aura came back to life, keeping her afloat. "And from the looks of it, you don't even have the time!"

_Damn it! Amy won't be able to live with her self and neither will I if I don't save them!_

"F-fine!" Our golden hero yelled out, albeit reluctantly.

* * *

Thankfully, the echidna managed to grasp the fox, who had ahold of Cream; then his grip slipped.

"Tails! Cream"

"Knuckles!" the fox and the rabbit screamed in panic, their voices fading as they drifted further and further apart.

"I got you Knuxie!"

The echidna froze as he felt two arms wrap around his waist, stopping him from drifted any farther. Though he couldn't see her, he recognized her voice. "B-batgirl? Is that you?"

"Yes sir!"

Meanwhile, Tails groaned when he crashed into a building, Cream landing on top of him.

Soon Rouge and Knuckles reached Tails and Cream. Seeing that his friends were alright, he turned to Rouge and blinked in shock.

"H-how did you break from his control?"

"I guess when _Alpha_ lost his cool his hold on me wavered slightly, though I still feel influenced because I still have his power flowing in me."

Knuckles tilted his head questionably. " _Influenced?_ "

Rouge nodded. "Yeah, it's weird…I didn't feel like I was under his control. It was more like he changed my beliefs _._ It was like I understood and saw what he saw. His logic actually made sense and-and it’s scary. He’s insane Knuckles.”

“And Tails, you too?” Cream asked.

“Honestly, I can’t remember anything now.”

"I'm completely sorry Knux." The bat said sadly, hating the hurt look the echidna was giving her. She hurried pulled him into a love-filled hug. Knuckles accepted it, enjoying the way her body felt against his.

“Did-did you mean all that. Everything you said?” he asked.

He felt Rouge shake her head. “Some of it was true and some of it was lies. Those times I spent together with you, on your island, the idea of stealing the Master Emerald wasn’t my goal.”

“But you thought about it.” He releasing her, giving her a glare, daring her to lie to him.

Rouge rolled her eyes. “We all have dark thought Knuckles, so of course. But the point I’m trying to say is that I came there to spend time with you.” She blushed. “I sort of crushed on you during the whole Art thing.”

The echidna’s mouth flapped like a fish. “Oh…”

“Then, the more time I spent with you, the more my feelings started to grow. Eventually, I fell in love with you. Do you feel the same?”

Knuckles shook, his heart thumping against his chest, the foreign feeling he was experiencing making his hands fidget nervously. “R-really? I feel the same-”

The fear of rejection vanished as she leaped into Knuckles's arms and kissed him roughly.

Cream squealed with delight at her friends’ confession while Tails smiled happily.

* * *

"Get off of me you oaf!” Sonic growled, refusing to relinquish his hold on the possessed female hedgehog, who he had pinned against the wall with her hands held over her head. Her crimson red eyes glowed with so much hatred that our hero had to wonder if the Amy he knew was truly gone for good. She attempted to twist and turn, hoping to break his hold, but to no avail as his iron grip tighten the more she struggled. For a split second, she almost kneed him in the groin, but Sonic had managed to stop that by pressing both his knees against hers, applying pressure to make sure that she wouldn't try the underhanded move again. Her yellow aura ignited which in turn forced the other hedgehog to do the same, refusing to let her get the upper hand. It had taken him most likely over ten minutes to catch her off guard since her attacks were relentless and he'd be damned if he released her now that he had her right where he wanted.

He wondered just how long she had been under the evil hedgehog's control. Because that would determine whether purifying her would cleanse the negative Chaos energy out of her or just harm her. Positive Chaos energy could override negative Chaos energy and vice versa, however, if positive Chaos energy attempts to purify _absolute_ negative Chaos energy, then the result would cause serious damage; but he had faith, faith that the real pure-hearted Amy was still in there.

"Relax Ames, I'm just trying to help you…" Sonic whispered, as his hands began to glow a brilliant light green, bathing them both in Chaos energy.

Amy growled, stubbornly refusing to give in to the wave of positive energy that now covered her. "I don’t want your help! I’m fine the way I am!" She exclaimed, venom dripping from her voice; then she became light-headed.

Sonic smiled with relief as he felt her tense muscles slacken and her red eyes soften, the malevolent energy withering away like it was never there. Next, her golden aura and weird battle suit transformed back to normal. Lastly, her eyes changed back to the beautiful emerald color he loved, her fur fading to its original pink hue, making Sonic’s smile brighten.

"Ughh I feel sick…" Amy moaned as she shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs out of it. That's when she finally realized that she was face to face with Super Sonic, who had her in a very.. ahem… compromising position…not that she minded. Those thoughts obviously made her blush.

"Welcome back…heh." He whispered warmly. Then he dipped into a kiss, shocking the pink hedgehog. She then melted, gladly returned it, a giddy feeling bursting within her stomach as her dream finally came true. Once the kiss was broken, she laughed softly.

"Took you long enough, you wimp."

Sonic laughed, caressing her face affectionately, making the pink hedgehog lean into his touch.

"Better than never, right?"

She smiled. "Yeah…" She suddenly laughed happily. Realizing that he still was pressed against her, she blushed again. "Soooo are you gonna let me go?"

Sonic's eyes widened amusingly as he did pull away but still kept a firm grip on her waist seeing as how the thunderous hurricane caused by his devilish counterpart was still ongoing. "Sorry, I just didn't want you flying away like-" He froze.

"Oh no, the others! I gotta find them and see if they are okay!" He tossed the pink hedgehog onto his back, causing her to give a surprised squeal before bursting off like a shooting star across the city, hoping to catch sight of wherever his friends landed.

Sonic smiled brightly as he spotted them all in one piece, though to his astonishment, they seemed to be in a friendly conversation with Rouge, who seemed to be in control.

Tails immediately took notice of the golden star that was his best friend, who shined through the office building they were in. He waved excitingly when he saw that in his arms he hand a possessed free Amy. Sonic's aura diminished as he dropped inside, placing the pink hedgehog on her feet.

"Man, am I glad that you guys are safe!"

Knuckled snorted as he crossing his arms proudly. "As if we could be taken down so easily!"

"Sonic, how is Amy back to normal? Was she able to fight off his hold over her?" Tails asked.

"I purified her with positive Chaos energy… oh which reminds me." He looked at the bat. "Want me to do that to you? I still feel the negative energy leaking from you.”

"Why ask! Just do it! I don't want to turn back to calling that evil freak Master!" Rouge said, gagging with disgust.

"Alright.”

Sonic quickly complied by shooting a pure green discharge of Chaos energy, enveloping her from head to toe; results were shown instantly, her regular white fur along with her original jade jewel eyes appearing again.

"Better?”

“Much!”

“Oh no, Sonic…it’s done!” Tails gasped.

Our blue hero’s eyes narrowed.

The Master Emerald was whole.

* * *

Shadow eyed the hovering evil hedgehog, who was still powering up, his eyes clearly showing just how far gone he was. He growled, feeling useless as he then saw the red Master Emerald on the skyscraper, which was finally in one piece.

"Shadow, is it just me, or are the Chaos Emeralds a lot bigger than they should be? They weren't like that when I first saw them earlier." Rose pointed out, still holding onto Shadow.

Shadow nodded, noticing this also. _But what does that mean…I've never seen that happen before…_

That's when Sonic and the gang arrived on the scene, the blue hedgehog on foot with the pink hedgehog in hand while Rouge was in the air; Knuckles landed down on the ground, Tails, and Cream also joining in.

Rose beamed, glade to see Rouge on their side while the bat gave her a salute of acknowledgment.

"Hi…uhh other me…"

Rose, blinked when she heard her own voice. "Uhh hi…"

"So…I’m sorry about…you know"

"It’s all good. You weren’t yourself."

"Yeah…"

“So…”

“So…”

"Sonic has told me _a lot_ about you-"

"Don't you dare!" A red-faced Sonic hollered as he stomped his way between the two pink hedgehogs. "If you do, I will tell your-"

Rose immediately panicked, waving her hands in the air like a maniac. "Okay okay! I'll stop! I won't say a word!"

Sonic smirked arrogantly, loving that he saved himself from humiliation and at the same time savoring the win he had over her. " _That's what I thought._ " He said, teasingly.

"Oh no…S-S-Super…"

The blue hedgehog turned towards the spluttering voice. "Tails? Buddy? What's wrong?"

The fox pointed a shaky finger at the skyscraper, where the twisted hedgehog had mysteriously gone off to.

"Oh…OH that's definitely not good…"

"Seriously not…" Knuckles added.

The others looked at the fox, echidna, and blue hedgehog in confusion, not understanding what they were so stunned about. Other than the fact that he had moved, nothing has chan-…oh yeah, the bigger Emeralds and the competed Master Emerald, how could they forget that…

"Wait, does it have something to do with how the Chaos Emeralds are now larger than usual?" The black hedgehog asked.

The three nodded quickly.

"Explain."

That's where Knuckles came in. "H-he has utilized the power of the Master Emerald to convert the Chaos Emeralds into Super Emeralds!"

"Super Emeralds?" He didn’t like where this was going.

The echidna continued. "He shouldn't even be able to do that! Only a guardian, like me, could do that!" he said, facing the blue hedgehog. "Sonic we can't…you can't fight someone with that much power!"

"Unless…I do it too…but I can't- I don’t think I can do it. It has too much negative energy. It might kill me!”

"So are we screwed?" Tails asked, wearing a defeated look.

"Wait…Knuckles, I think you can help! Did you bring your Master Emerald?”

"Yeah, I brought it with me. With the crazy hedgehog on the loose, I couldn't leave it back on Angel Island." He said, materializing the shrunken Master Emerald from his hands, placing it on the pavement. He then mumbled something in an odd language, which sounded like gibberish to everyone else, enlarging the green gem back to its normal size.

"I’m guessing you want me to draw out the positive energy from the Chaos Emeralds, so you can also use them, am I right??”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, let-

But it was too late.

* * *

" ** _I don't care! I just want THEM all DEAD! ALL OF THEM! And you will aid me whether you like it or not!"_**

" _I will not aid you with your goal! It is an atrocious act! The fact that you have had the jewel for years now is ludicrous! You should not have this kind of power! That is only reserved for the Gods! The Master Emerald was never meant to be used in such a way! You are a disgusting creature and you should be eradicated from existence!"_

The white trench-coated hedgehog groaned from the large amount of power that was coursing through his body, the power now infusing with his very being, becoming one with him. He, in essence, IS the Master Emerald… or he would have been if _he_ wasn't in the way. For you see, the wicked hedgehog was now in a mental battle with a certain water God that lived within the giant jewel itself. Unfortunately, this certain being has been under the mercy of the hedgehog for years now, ever since he got rid of its guardian. Now since the Emerald was completely tainted, the little control he had left was pretty much nonexistent.

Alpha chuckled nastily as he shot his hand out, penetrating right through the creature's head, grasping the single organ in its body, his brain. The creature would have moved out of the way but it was exhausted from having to not only fight off the evil manifesting in its body for all these years but also from having to reform itself from the hundreds of times the sick hedgehog had splattered it all over the place. Its liquid body began to tremble and jerk about as the hedgehog started to absorb it into his own very being.

Alpha laughed as Chaos's liquid form continuing to seep into the hedgehog's pours. **_"Look at it on the bright side, now you get to be a part of greatness!_** **_A true God!"_**

" _I'm sorry, but I tried…this is one battle I cannot fight anymore_. _I hope you are safe_ … _where ever you are…_ " the creature whispered, thinking about a certain peach echidna, as he was absorbed inside of the power-hungry hedgehog entirely.

* * *

"Oh boy…this is bad…" Sonic mumbled as he and the others took a step back as his counterpart walked towards them, nonchalantly.

" **Oh yes. Very bad**." His voice no longer sounded like Sonic’s.

He didn't even look like him anymore what with his body now totally pitch black; his white trench coat and his red aura along with his pure ruby eyes were the only bright colors on him. His quills, which used to have Super Sonic's regular qualities, were now longer and sharper akin to the devil's own horns, the tip of them a blood-red, almost as if he had used those very quills to sharpen them on an unfortunate victim.

The wind flipped his coat about, his feet cracking the concrete with every step he took.

" **I will make you all pay for what you have put me through! You all have made my goal so much harder to reach because of your constant meddling! On top of that, _you._ "** He glared at Shadow, remembering the pain he put him through the day he took his left eye out, making him permanently blind. **"And _you._** “He then faced Sonic, hating him for just being alive, looking like him and of course, for what he just did to him just now. **"Especially, since both of you are the most pestering ones!"** He shouted the last part, his crimson aura expanding, making the group jump.

" **However, I am a fair guy…well when I want to be that is."** He smirked, though it was kinda hard to see since he was now so dark, as he crossed his arms. **"I will let any of you use _that_."** He pointed to the red echidna's Master Emerald. " **So we can even the odds so to speak but I must warn you…it won't help at all. You can’t comprehend just how much power I have within me now. I don't have only the Master Emerald’s power, I also have the G _od that was inside it infused with my very being. Add the Super Emeralds into the mix and you have the most powerful being in all universes."_**

"Oh God…he absorbed Chaos himself! How is that possible?" Knuckles looked like he was going to pass out from shock.

Shadow, remembering the deceased red echidna’s telling of the being that was within the Master Emerald, cursed inwardly, starting to realize how fruitless this whole situation was.

All eyes turned to Sonic, who was the only one that seemed to have the courage to step forwards.

"It's going to be me. I will finish you off! I don't care if you _think_ you are invincible; mark my words I will take you down!" Our blue hero yelled as a column of gold encircled his form. Once the yellow light extinguished, the blue hedgehog was gone and was replaced by his golden counterpart, Super Sonic.

"Knuckles do your thing. I'm ready when you are." The golden hedgehog said, his focus solely on his evil clone, a frown twisted his lips.

"Gotcha!" the red echidna, with his heavy palm on top of his precious jewel, began to chant the words that would help the Chaos Emeralds transfer the positive Chaos energy into his friend, seeing as how the Emeralds were already in their own super form.

"The servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the Chaos! Only you can do this, lend me your power so I can use it for good, to perish all evil!" The red guardian shouted.

At first, nothing happened. Then the Master Emerald started to spin at a slow pace before increasing in speed until it was nothing more than a green blur. Next, a thunderous lightning bolt struck the large Emerald, causing a large energy beam to shoot off at an alarming rate, skyrocketing to the skyscraper, which was where the Super Emeralds were, hovering elegantly. The beam struck one of the supercharged Emeralds, causing a domino effect, striking all seven of them before ricocheting back to the Master, which in turn bounced off its surface and proceeded to smash right into Sonic's body, creating yet another column of light, this time being the color of all the seven Emeralds.

Alpha looked on with interest while the blue hero's friends looked on with awe as Sonic was revealed, this time not golden nor his true blue self, but the strange color as the very column of light that covered him seconds ago.

"Whoa… that's amazing…" Shadow gasped, never having seen such a transformation.

Rose smiled dazzlingly, her emerald orbs glistering with admiration. "Yeah…"

Tails and Knuckles grinned, remembering the transformation way back when. Cream, Rouge, and Amy, who had never seen it before now, looked on, simply astounded at the God-like being in front of them.

Alpha's eyes narrowed to near slits, not liking the way the hedgehog was calmly levitating with his eyes sealed shut, his expression showing just how confident he was.

The dark hedgehog snorted, clearly not impressed. "So what do I call you? God Sonic?"

Sonic didn't speak at first, which peeved his counterpart to no end.

"Well?!"

"Heh…" That small sound sent chills down everyone's spine. "I would never compare myself to a God. If I did, I'd be no better than you."

His eyes opened, revealing his normal piercing emerald ones, though they seemed to be more define. "So no, not God Sonic."

“The names Hyper Sonic."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know, I know, cheesy as fuck, it’s too Dragon Ball-ish lol! But I had a lot of fun with this chapter! Well if you all thought this was cool, the next and final one is going to be awesome! I'll make sure of it. Not only that, it will be the longest one of all!
> 
> Now for the changes. There is too much! I won’t even bother talking about it anymore. Ever since chapter 16, things have taken a huge turn. It’d be pointless to go and read the final chapter at Fanfic .net, so just wait it out. I’ll have it up soon.
> 
> Anyways, til next time! Take care ya'll!
> 
> (Posted: 12/22/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	20. The Other Me Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So here it is! Part 2!

* * *

**The Other Me (Part 2)**

* * *

An earth-shaking bolt of lightning struck the torn streets between the two super-powered hedgehogs, shooting blue sparks of electricity everywhere as they both heatedly glared at each other, daring one of them to make the first move. The small group watched on anxiously, hoping that their friend had enough power to defeat his counterpart once and for all. Some of them believed that even with the added strength of the Super Emerald, it still wouldn't be enough since the crazed hedgehog had so much more power than the righteous one. With the Master Emerald, Chaos itself, and the Super Emeralds inside, he was pretty much invincible. However Sonic didn't believe that and he was going to give it all he's got to prove it, even if it kills him in the process.

As Shadow looked on, he couldn't help but feel that he should be at his new ally's side. It wasn't fear that was holding him back, it was just the fact that he didn't know how to tap into the power that the hedgehog tapped into since he had never seen such a transformation before. He already had too much Chaos energy within him as it is and he wasn't sure if using himself as a test dummy was a good idea. He scoffed himself for such thoughts, feeling like a complete cowered.

Knuckles, knowing that his job was done minimized the Master Emerald once more, pocketing it. From experience, he understood just how much will power you need to maintain the Hyper transformation, however, when he did utilize it, he didn't last very long because it downright nearly killed him to remain in that form. Though he and Sonic were enemies and rivals at one point, those days were long gone since the hedgehog had surpassed him in strength years ago, which was the only thing he had over him seeing as how he could never match up to his speed. He smirked remembering the old days when he sent both the hedgehog and the fox down a waterfall, as at the time he had been tricked into believing that they were responsible for the disturbance in Angel Island. _Come on buddy, show him the real power of Chaos…_

Sweat dripped feverishly down the fox's forehead, touching his furry chest as he couldn't shake the bad thoughts out of his head. He always hated when Sonic selflessly put his life on the line but he has always been like that hasn't he? He couldn't remember a time where the blue hedgehog didn't throw caution out the window, using the motto act first then think later, which in his opinion was a very stupid outlook in life or death situations. But his selflessness is what made him so loveable and well Tails wouldn't have it any other way. _Come on big brother! Kick his ass!_

At moments like these, Cream couldn't help but think about the time the blue hedgehog had first shown his heroic ways by not only saving her from the now-deceased doctor, but also her mother. Since then her bond with the hedgehog had increased ten folds, now seeing him just like the fox did, an older brother. She giggled mentally as she recalled that shortly after he rescued her mother, she had developed a huge crush on him for the next couple of years, but she got over it once she came to know the fox, ultimately dating him. She never did tell him that and she sure as hell was _never_ going to tell Tails. _He'd probably fear that I'd run off with him!_

Though Rouge never was really close to Sonic, she learned to respect him when he saved the planet from the Space Colony Ark, which at the time had been rushing towards Earth to wipe out mankind. Through the echidna, she had grown to be his ally and then later his friend. _Finish him, Sonic!_

Rose had grown up in a world where the name 'Sonic' and 'Monster' were one in the same. When she first met this universe’s Sonic, she downright hated him for even looking like _him!_ However, when taking a closer look, she realized that his appearance was actually different from the evil one what with his friendly demeanor and all. Once she got to know him, she immediately adored him, his kindness and heroic deeds melting her bad outlook of him. Heck, it even went as far as getting a tiny crush on him and shit- she almost kissed him! God, she was never gonna live it down! She blushed horribly just thinking about it and still felt extremely guilty every time she looked at her husband! _Not one day married and I almost screwed it up with the one person I'd never expect to do it with. Ughh at least I stopped myself in time._ The pink hedgehog was definitely going to take that incident to the grave. _After all, what he doesn't know won't hurt him!_ She thought cheekily.

 _Oh, no Sonic the hedgehog! You better not die on me! Not after you finally made your move on me!_ Rose's counterpart said inwardly, nervousness slowly consuming her. That was pretty much the only thought running through her at the moment as she watched Sonic icing his counterpart, who had been the one to steal _their_ first kiss! She was never going to get that back and what's worse, the asshole has now kissed her more times than she could remember! She made a mental note to have a full-blown make-out session with her hero after all of this, to completely erase the foul image of that twisted hedgehog’s filthy hands all over her! _Ewww! Murder him Sonic! Take him out for good!_

" **Go."** Alpha whispered.

Then they were gone, almost as if they were never there in the first place, surprising everyone all together. However, they weren't fooled since they could clearly _hear_ all the clashing sounds way up in the sky, sending powerful shockwaves that blew the very clouds off course. The ground rocked back and forth from the extreme power that the two hedgehogs were released, several buildings shattering and crumbling down each time one of them smashed into each other.

" **Chaos Bolt!"**

"No thank you!"

Alpha growled, strongly hating the hedgehog's new counter-attack as he drove his right fist forward, aiming for his face but missed as his counterpart dipped to the side before delivering his own fist, which successfully connected, making him growl again. Sonic followed up with a sideways kick only to have the evil hedgehog use his arm as a shield, shoving him back before kneeing him in the stomach, doubling him over. Not wasting time he smashed his elbow down his spine, making him fall downwards at supersonic speed as he then blasted after him. To his surprise, the sly multi-colored hedgehog was able to curve into a ball seconds before he hit the pavement, bouncing right back to him, slamming right into his chest, sending him sailing back to where he came from. The pure hedgehog smirked slightly as he used the Chaos Control technique to intercept him, doing a spin kick that caught him from behind, making him gasp in shock as his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He continued his assault by wrapping his arm around his neck, flipping him over before quickly kicking him, sending him hurling higher into the air.

Sonic now feeling that he was in control, rushed on after him, but to his dismay his malevolent opponent regained his composure and nailed him on the head, dazing him for a second, which is all the time Alpha needed to deliver a powerful punch the caused him to lurch forward, sending the stunned hedgehog into a coughing fit. Alpha laughed as he began to repeatedly punch him, peppering his face with angry marks before grabbing his arm and hurling him straight through two buildings at such speed that when he hit land the whole city trembled. Not even a second passed before the Hyper hedgehog was up again, ripping himself out of his created crater before rushing to his angry evil counterpart, who immediately acted by giving him a double kick, using his weight to crush him through the cement, smiling nastily in satisfaction at the bone-cracking sound that was heard when he crashed into the ground. He somersaulted off of the floored hedgehog as he then hammered a Chaos energy-filled fist right on his still form, causing an earth-quaking explosion that literally knocked the small group nearby off their feet.

"Sonic!" Amy cried out with panic as the others looked on with shock written on their faces.

Alpha laughed wickedly. " **You never had a chance!"**

"Chaos Warp!"

The defiled hedgehog gasped as he felt several punches hit his body, making his head bobble in every direction as a bewildered expression appeared on his face. He then felt a heavy blow to his right, almost breaking his arm in half before he was met with another blow, this time being his left kidney, making him cough and spittle blood. To finish this ghost-like beating, he felt a hand grab his throat before he then found himself indented in the pavement.

Alpha gave a throaty cough as his wide eyes focused on his enemy, who suddenly was standing before him in his all multi-colored glory, his aura brushing against the wind roughly.

" **H-how did you do that?"**

Instead of responding, he smashed his fist over and over again until the hedgehog looked half-conscious, however, right before the final blow, the blackened hedgehog grinned, surprising the hero as he curled his knees inward before springing them against his counterpart, who went into the air.

Alpha's lips creased into a frown as he dashed to the airborne hedgehog, slamming two feet against his abdomen before he halted him by twisting behind him, throwing his hands outwards with such force that it sent him skyrocketing to the ground, his foe's expression clearly showing the immense pain he was in. Once he hit the ground brutally, the whole area caved in, sending fissures in every direction.

The dark hedgehog then extended his hand, charging up an attack to finally put his counterpart to rest but to his shock, the hedgehog had exploded out of the caved-in spot, his hand cocked as he then gave him the most devastating punch yet, causing Alpha to whiteout for a split second. A small delay passed as he was then launched so far high that he broke through the atmosphere, ultimately disappearing from view. The hero, now winded, touched the ground as he took a couple of seconds to regain his composure.

"S-Sonic?" Tails said worriedly, seeing his brother breathing harshly as he continued to face the night sky. With one last haggard breath, he gave the fox a smile, albeit a weary one as he activated his multi-colored aura again. A strange white ball formed into one of his fists, the hedgehog taking off once more at hypersonic speed.

Shadow was dumbfounded at what he had just witnessed. He then closed his eyes thoughtfully before speaking. "Damn it, he's tiring."

Amy's eyes widen. "W-what? It’s only been like 5 minutes.”

"However, don't count him out yet." The echidna said, receiving questionable looks. "I'm sure there is a reason why he looked so confident earlier." He grinned.

That's when they heard a thunderous ear-shattering sound that rattled the whole sky, silence followed moments after. Then a blurred figure crashed into the ground, an awful snap, crack, and crunching sound hissing right through the air. As the smoke withered away, a blue hedgehog was revealed, causing the entire small group's hope to deflate. However, they were curious as to what that odd multi-colored light that lingers on the defeated hedgehog's left fist was.

" **And here we are, just as I predicted. You, defeated while I still stand tall."** Our hero's malicious twin cackled as he stepped into view, an arrogant look plastered on his lightly scuffed face. His enemies snarled with anger as he nonchalantly swaggered to his fallen adversary, knowing that his time in this world was over. After all, who can now stop him?

Alpha turned his sights to the small group, locking his eyes on each and everyone one of them, making them tense before looking away.

" **It was foolish to challenge me, however, I must say, I _was surprised_ that you were able to put up such a fight. You are clearly more resilient than I thought you'd be." **He gave a chuckle as a wicked thought crossed his mind. **"As much pleasure that'd it be for me to be the one to deliver the final blow, I think watching someone else do it for me would be even better."** His red eyes shined fleetingly as he focused his sights on Amy again, making her freeze with fear.

" **Unlike the others, Amy had been under my control longest. So she still has a tiny be of negative energy. Which is just enough for me to manipulate. It’s such a shame Sonic missed it."** Alpha's crimson eyes bore into Amy’s green ones, making her body pulse with a sudden surge of power. " **Amy, my love, end him."**

Amy’s eyes turned crimson, the darkness in her heart and soul coming to the surface again.

Everyone stared in horror as Amy moving to Sonic, though oddly enough, it looked like she was resisting, unlike before; Alpha did not like this one bit.

However, when Amy reached Sonic, she grabbed him and hugged him tightly, pressing her lips against his ear.

“H-elp me…take my energy…” Amy whispered in his ear as she struggled, holding herself back from snapping his neck.

Suddenly he gained enough strength to return her hug, absorbing her negative Chaos energy. He hurried converted the negative energy to positive, loosening his hold on Amy.

Alpha never saw it coming. 

Without warning, Alpha gasped when our blue hero threw the colorful orb of energy at him, hitting him right in the chest, causing him to freeze.

Then Alpha closed his eyes tightly, feeling the worst pain he has ever felt in his life. Yes, even worse than that attack at Angel Island.

Our blue hero blinked, stunned that that actually worked.

When the pain depleted, Alpha was consumed by pure rage as he raced towards Sonic, catching him off guard as he attacks him like a rabid animal. " **I will kill you brutally! Fucking nuisance of a hedgehog, youuuu little shit!"**

Blood sputtered from Sonic’s lips as his counterpart ruthlessly assaulted him. With one final punch to the face, he sent Sonic sailing across the air, clearly defeated.

A red blur came out of nowhere, catching the airborne hedgehog before landing safely on the ground.

"I gotcha buddy." Knuckles said, wincing at how bad Sonic looked.

Sonic smiled halfheartedly as he was placed on the ground, where his group of friends quickly rushed to. That's when he noticed someone was missing.

"Where's Shadow?"

Rose merely looked behind him. To Sonic's surprise, he saw that the black and red hedgehog was going toe to toe with Alpha, who now seemed to be on land, clashing repeatedly with him.

"Whoa, Shadow is really giving it to him, and look! Evil you has lost his weird black form and is now just in his Super form!" Cream pointed out in amazement.

Tails grinned. "Not for long."

True to his word, Alpha was currently trying to keep his power under control but was failing miserably as his fur continuously flickered between gold-yellow and cobalt.

"Chaos Assault!" The hero from another universe cried out, activating one of his special attacks as he vanished from sight shortly before reappearing behind the battered evil hedgehog, punching him in the back, the stomach, his left kidney, his right kidney, his forehead, and then finally finishing off with a bone-crushing diagonal kick to the temple, sending him tumbling onto his back, rolling about.

Shadow landed briskly on the ground, his red eyes kept the focus on the motionless hedgehog.

A small gust of wind brushed on all those currently present as the group of heroes stared at the limp hedgehog incredulity, not being able to process the turn of events.

Sonic grinned. "Heh, well I'll be damned…it actually worked!"

"Sonic…what _did_ you do?" Amy asked, the others nodding also wanting to know.

Sonic coughed before sitting up, flicking his now blue bang away from his eye. "Well, I knew from the beginning that I never had a chance against him so I began to think. If I can't beat him with my fists why not try another tactic? That's when I thought what if I can purify him just like I did with Amy and Rouge? However, I completely understood that he was much more tainted compared to you two. Despite that, I went ahead with the gamble and I guess it worked. I gave him ALL my positive energy! And look at that, his body can’t take it!”

Rose gasped. "But wouldn't that leave you vulnerable to negative Chaos energy then?!"

Sonic waved his hand in dismissal. "Nah…I’ll be fine.”

Rose said nothing, knowing that he was just trying to reassure everyone else. They both knew that at the time he _had_ the pure good Chaos energy within him, so that made it easier for him to overcome the malicious energy that had tried to enter his body. _Though he never ceases to amaze me…_ She thought with a smile.

"Bra-bravo my pestering friends…it seems like I have underestimated you all again…and it just continues happening." The fallen blue hedgehog coughed, slowly standing onto his two feet.

"But you see, I've _never_ been one to give up! So you will have to kill me if you want to stop me! The question is, which one of you has the guts to do it?" He spat the blood dripping from his lips, his red eye glaring at Shadow, knowing that he would take the bait.

The black hedgehog did, snorting before stepping closer to his arch-nemesis.

"I will, but we will do this with no Chaos Emeralds. Why do you always hide behind them? Are you not powerful enough to fight on your own?" He jeered.

"Fine… however, what's to stop me from using this one here?" Alpha laughed as he whipped out the cracked red emerald from his trench coat pocket.

"Lucky Ruby huh? Hmph, see! You’re nothing but a coward! I say put that Emerald on the ground and fight me normally!" Shadow stomped his feet on the pavement, fed up with all his bullshit.

Alpha shrugged and decided to play along. He placed the jewel on the ground before softly punting it a few distances away. "Okay there _Shadow_! But its winner takes all! If I win, I will get your precious Rose-" Said pink hedgehog stuck out her tongue to emphasize her disgust. "AND you will all get on your knees, begging me not to kill you…which probably wouldn't work in the end but hell it will be amusing seeing it happen."

"Deal…"

Rose was furious! Not because she didn't have faith in her husband, but because he let _him_ put her on the line like some kind of prize.

"Okay then, let the main event begin!" Alpha Sonic bellowed as he flapped the bottom of his white trench coat with his hands, making the wind brush it upwards stylishly.

The small gang looked on as the black and blue hedgehog rushed towards each other, clashing painfully, bouncing off one another before repeating the action over and over again, both of them trying to gain the upper hand. That bout ended rather quickly as the blue hedgehog threw a strong right hook, only to have the black hedgehog block it with his right arm, pushing it aside before delivering his own, successfully catching him under this chin, snapping his head upwards. Not letting this opportunity slip, the black one swayed to the left, sending a hard kick to the rib, making him cough harshly before ducking, punching him in the stomach then the side of his cheek, finishing up with a spin kick that sent him rolling on the ground.

It didn't take long for the blue hero's counterpart to get back onto his feet, spitting out a mouth full of blood as he charged to his foe, catching him in the chest with a bone-crushing fist, making him double over before grabbing his head and used it as a springboard as he sent himself over the hunching hedgehog. Once behind him, he drove his fist against his spine, grabbed him around his waist and then twisted him over his shoulder, hurling him to a nearby tree, located in a local park. The black hedgehog gasped as his back made contact with the hardwood causing unimaginable pain to course through his body. Shadow was quick to his feet as he suddenly saw the blue hedgehog's foot coming towards him and rolled sideways, tossing a hard punch to the unguarded hedgehog's back, making him fall face-first into the hard tree broken bark. The black one punched him a few times on the back before grappling him around his neck, flipping him over his own shoulder, and then slamming him on the ground, making him groan in agony. Shadow frowned as he pulled his left foot back and shot it forward, punting him across the concrete streets. Fortunately for Alpha, he was able to roll onto his feet on his way tumbling down, coming into a screeching halt by using his heels as brakes.

"Come on hubby, take him out!" Rose said, shouting like a madwoman, cheering her husband on.

Amy frowned as everyone smiled in amusement.

"That's you alright Ames," Sonic whispered, nudging his love interest.

Amy turned red. "Hey! I don't sound like that… right guys?" The others looked at her before turning back to the fight, obviously finding it more interesting. Besides, they didn't want to get yelled at. "Some friends you guys are…" she murmured, pouting.

Alpha, who had been crouching, stood up straight as an evil glint flashed from his eye. He smirked as he then broke into a wicked laugh. Once he relaxed he spoke.

"Okay Shadow, let’s try this again!" Alpha Sonic said as he did a dirty move by removing his trench coat and hurling it into his opponent's face, momentarily blinding him before dashing off towards the red Emerald, kicking it up into his hand and finally hollering a command.

"Chaos Bolt!" The mad hedgehog shouted, with an outstretched hand, releasing multiple Chaos energy blasts at the hedgehog. Shadow growled as he removed the discarded trench coat out of his view, tossing it to the side, and luckily was able to dodge the incoming energy blasts by leaping left to right, forward and backwards, not daring to pause for a second since that would surely cost his life.

Sweat rapidly fell from his forehead as Shadow cursed the blue fiend when he laughed and laughed while continuing to fire rapid Chaos energy attacks over and over again.

"Wind Blade!" cried out Alpha, letting lose his crescent-shaped Sonic Wind attack, only to miss when the black hedgehog dove to safety. Alpha's laughter escalated to the point of sounding insane, as he fired waves and waves of Wind Blades towards his foe, who, fortunately, seemed to always move out of the way in the nick of time.

"Chaos Reflect!"

With the yell of his new skill, he bounced back several of the crescent wind waves back to its owner, who was able to dodge them successfully.

With a fresh boost, Alpha darted with breakneck speed towards the black hedgehog, who mimicked him. Both their fists struck each other's cheeks simultaneously, a sickening bone against bone-crunching sound exploding upon impact, causing them to recoil back. Once they regained their bearings, they pushed from one another and landed several feet away. Alpha then grinned.

"Sonic Boom!"

Suddenly the blue hedgehog's feet were set on fire, green Chaos energy encasing them as he blasted off with such amazing speed that a long green trail of fire was left behind, scorching the streets. His outstretched hand smashed into the hedgehog's face as he passed by him, stopping on the other side.

The black hedgehog groaned while rubbing his sore cheek as the evil hedgehog gave him a fanged grin. "I knew you couldn't fight without the Emerald."

"Hahahehehe there are no rules in this game!" Alpha cackled as his shoes ignited again, blasting off towards the guarded hedgehog but to Shadow's dismay, the dirty hedgehog again pulled a cheap one by zig-zagging behind him, nailing him on the back before twisted away from the black hedgehog's incoming fist, rushing on off to the other side.

Alpha laughed as he 'Sonic Boomed' towards Shadow, feinting yet again in a zig-zag motion however this time instead of stopping on the other side, he pivoted back to him passing him once, twice, then thrice.

"Whoa… do you guys see what I'm seeing?" Knuckles said.

The others nodded. Apparently, each time Alpha passed by the black hedgehog, he left a trail of green flames behind him that didn't extinguish. Both the hedgehog's now stood in a 'Z' shaped fissured area, seeing as how the flames were so potent that the very pavement was beginning to cave in.

"Face it Shadow, there is no way you can win! I can keep this up _all_ day!" the evil hedgehog laughed.

Shadow smirked, making Alpha quirk an eyebrow. "You really think you have this all won don't you. Let me let you in on a little secret." His grin broadened. "There is a reason why I call that Emerald in your hand 'Luck Ruby!'"

Shadow crouched slightly before shooting off towards the blue hedgehog, surprising him with the speed he was using, smashing his fist right in the middle of Alpha's face, making him wince as he then yelled out a command.

"Chaos Control!"

Shadow vanished, appearing behind the mad hedgehog as he then sent a powerful elbow drop on top of his head, putting him into a dazed state before flipping over him and driving a fist into his right cheek which made his head snap to the left. Once the black hedgehog landed on his feet, he sprung back up, smashing his right knee into the hedgehog's jaw, which made him gurgle harshly. Grabbing Alpha's head tightly within his hands, he then used that same right knee to bounce his foe's face down on it over and over again before releasing him, sending him soaring into the sky with the last knee strike. Wanting to wrap this up, Shadow delivered the final blow by jumping up above his airborne enemy and then threw his arm out in a swatting motion, hurling him right back to the ground.

“Full Power Chaos Spear!"

The angry black hedgehog fired his signature attack at Alpha, the yellow spears raining down on the battered and bloody blue hedgehog, causing a huge amount of smoke to explode and obscure him from sight.

Shadow landed gracefully near the fallen hedgehog, breathing roughly. All the movements he did had caused him to become winded.

Watching from the side Sonic grinned. "That was wicked Shadow! Nice going!" he said, giving him a thumbs up. Shadow just smirked in return as the rest of the group cheered in celebration.

Suddenly a wild screeching static noise was heard near where Alpha was as the evil hedgehog himself stood up, breathing heavily.

"You know what? Maybe you are right Shadow…maybe I can't beat you…" Sonic's devilish counterpart admitted as he began tossing the cracked red Emerald up and down in his hand.

"But I guess I don’t have to! You see, there are other methods of winning, right?!” He said, his body hunched over. His eyes, it finally showed true rage and insanity; everyone knew he had cracked.

He burst into laughter as he started to charge up a large quantity of Chaos energy in the hand he held the Emerald in.

He then did the unthinkable.

"Bye-bye, everyone!”

He literally slammed the red Chaos Emerald on the pavement so hard, that the already wide crack on the jewel widened even further to the point that it split right down the middle, shattered right in half completely.

"No! The Emerald!" Sonic and Rose cried out, the two knowing what the end result would be now that the jewel is broken.

Then between the two halves, a dark malicious vortex opened, tearing right through space and time.

Alpha laughed manically. "Just as I suspected! A portal to another dimension opened! I highly doubt this one leads to anywhere pleasant!”

The evil hedgehog simply vanished out of sight. The portal opened was creating such unstable harsh winds that the group of heroes was having a hard time staying on solid land. Seconds later, the wind currents stopped pushing them and instead began reeling them in.

"Guys the vortex is trying to suck us in now!" Tails hollered.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious genius!" Cream cried out as she slowly began levitating towards the black hole. Tails heroically dived towards her, pinning her on the ground, using a nearby street pole to prevent them from getting hurled right into the raging vortex.

Knuckles, who had his knuckles smashed into the ground in order to remain there, grunted as Rouge suddenly latched onto him. "Sonic! If we can somehow get close to the Emerald, I can put it together!"

Our blue hero, who had used his crystal ring to stand still by channeling Chaos energy to his feet, narrowed his eyes on his target. Rose, who was clinging on his back realized what he was about to do and paled. Though the Emerald seemed to not be affected by the pull of the vortex, it wasn't a good idea to get near it since it just could very well pull Sonic in despite his ability to remain floored.

"Ahhh help meeee!" Rose's counterpart screamed as she was sent straight towards the portal, but fortunately, her momentum was put to a stop as a certain black hedgehog grabbed her arm, swung them around using a nearby stop sign pole, before sliding down on it and landing smoothly on land, the pink hedgehog safely clinging on his back with one hand on the pole. _Close one…_

" _Arrgggahhhhhh I'm taking you with meeee_!"

A sudden roar of rage was heard as the next thing they knew, a blue blur smacked right into the black hedgehog's side, causing him to not only lose his grip on the pole, but also lose contact with Amy, who luckily was able to retain her hold on the pole.

"Shadooowwww!" Amy cried out, her voice laced with dread.

Alpha and Shadow were now heading right towards the fierce sucking vortex at an alarming rate, not knowing what was in store for them if they happened to go through it. That thought didn't bother the mad hedgehog though.

"You psycho! You'll end up killing us both!" The black hedgehog yelled as the blue one kept an iron grip on him, his arms and legs locked tightly around his waist, refusing to let go.

"I don't care! As long as you die with me I'll die happy!"

Shadow began to do the only thing he could and that was using one of his elbows to smash against his foe's stomach, hoping to make him relinquish his hold on him. Alpha coughed with each and every blow he received, however, he refused to budge.

"It will all be over in a few more seconds!" He said wickedly.

Shadow and Alpha were literally inches away from their unknown fate before a sudden hand reached out, grasping the black hedgehog by his right arm, the abrupt jerking motion causing the evil hedgehog to briefly lose his hold. Unfortunately, he was able to instantly shoot out his left hand, catching his nemesis's foot as his eyes finally showed something besides insanity.

That something was fear.

The vortex's pull intensified, the weary black hedgehog looking forwards, coming face to face with his savior.

"Sonic?" he uttered with bewilderment, this being the first time he said the name without malice dripping from his voice.

Said hero flashed his ally a pursed grin, clearly trying to remain in control of his channeling Chaos energy, which continued to run down his glowing green shoes. Rose, who was still clutched to the blue hero's back, reached out, making sure to keep one arm locked around the blue one's neck. Her hand clamped onto her husband's free one, increasing his chances of survival. Sonic's counterpart looked on with worry, realizing that his kamikaze attempt was indeed backfiring as his latched hand began to loosen since it was starting to sweat from anxiety.

Sonic grinned victoriously as a _great_ idea came to mind. "Heh hey Shadow, try thinking with your _feet_."

The black hedgehog gave the heroic hedgehog a confused look before comprehension registered on his face. Returning his gaze back down to the wide-eyed hedgehog, he frowned spitefully before that frown twisted into a smirk.

He then simply aimed his free foot at Alpha, who instantly knew he was screwed.

"Go! To! Hell!" Shadow shouted as he ignited his jet shoes.

Time seemed to stop.

Then it resumed as Sonic 'Alpha' Robotnik released one final scream of rage before his burned face was set aflame, sending him spiraling right into the vortex, never to be seen again.

Shadow, Rose, and Sonic sighed with relief, glad that was over with, however, they knew that if they didn't close that black hole, they would suffer the same fate as their foe. Both the pink and black hedgehog were completely clueless as to what to do next but Sonic wasn't. After all, he wasn't called the fastest thing alive for no reason, right? _Heh…I think as fast as I run, well sometimes anyway!_

"Okay guys, I'm going to let go-"

"Are you mad?!" they both said.

Sonic growled in annoyance. "Will you both let me finish! Look as I said, I'm gonna let go of Shadow and Rose, you let go of me…I'll take care of the rest."

Rose panicked, not liking the look the blue hedgehog was giving the both of them while Shadow just remained stoic.

" _Trust me."_

There it is was again… _trust me…_

The pink hedgehog nodded with a smile, her emerald eyes proving that she did as she then tilted her head back to Shadow, who tilted his own head though he already knew what was going to happen. A chain of events then followed.

Shadow let go.

Rose let herself slip off.

"Chaos Warp!"

Sonic disappeared.

Sonic appeared _under the vortex._

Sonic grabbed the two pieces of the Chaos Emerald, slamming them together.

That's when the raging storm stopped; everything stopped as the vortex vanished, leaving no trace of it behind.

"Holy chill-dogs that actually worked!" Sonic hooted out, giving a true smile, still keeping the two halves of the jewel together, not trusting that it'd be okay to let go just yet.

Rose, who landed roughly on her unfortunate husband's chest, making him grunt at the sudden weight, stepped off of him wearing a look of disbelief. "You mean you didn't know!?"

The blue hedgehog gave an uncharacteristic snort. "Heck no, but we would have been screwed, either way, right?"

"I guess so," Rose muttered as Shadow stood up, dusting himself off.

“Ugh!” Sonic groaned, feeling the pulsing pain the red Emerald usually caused.

The rest of the gang joined them shortly after, all of them incredibly happy that all of this hell has finally ended. The red guardian strode to the blue hero and extended his hand to him, silently asking him to give him the split jewel while still keeping it pressed together. Once in his hands, the echidna chanted a few words before the fragmented ruby Emerald was melded together, becoming whole once again.

"There…" Knuckles said, giving a fanged grin before he tossed the Emerald to Shadow, who caught it absentmindedly, throwing it up and down a few times playfully.

"Hey look! The Master Emerald! It's back to its original color!" Tails pointed out.

Indeed it was. The large pure red jewel hovered elegantly on top of the skyscraper it had been placed on long before the battle had started. The seven Chaos Emeralds that were rotating around it seemed to be releasing some kind of positive form of energy, which in turn was being absorbed into the jewel, obviously purifying it.

"Heh, I guess since the other me is gone, the dark power was weakened enough for the Chaos Emeralds to get rid of the leftovers," Sonic said with a lazy smile.

Once the seven Emeralds finished their job, they hovered high into the night sky, scattering shortly after as they always do once they are used.

"Okay, so who's going to be the one to get that huge thing down here, cause I'm too freaking tired to do it!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, flopping right onto the ground. To his dismay, a certain pink hedgehog hopped in his arms, making him groan as his body exploded in pain. "Hey watch it Ames! I'm hurting! Sheesh!”

Amy smiled sheepishly as she stared into his emerald orbs. Sonic smiled, dipping down to give her a kiss however it was cut short by a rather loud cough.

Both the hedgehogs exploded into a dark shade of red, making everyone roll their eyes at this ridiculously cliché scene; Shadow and Rose in particular since that's what they would have looked like when they reunited earlier on.

"So who's getting the jewel?"

Everyone looked at Knuckles.

"Oh come on!" The red echidna hollered but nevertheless did as he was silently asked to do. He stomped his way towards the building, muttering non-sense the whole way there.

As the echidna began the long tedious climb to the top, the strong sharp winds reminding him of his _wonderful_ experience aboard the _Sky Deck_ , Rose paled in worry.

"Sonic! Remember we have to return the jewel before this world and ours falls apart!"

The others didn't like the sound of that and started to panic. Sonic didn't. He seemed to be at peace now.

The blue hedgehog waved his hand. "Don't worry, we have the jewel, right? The evil bunch did say that we would know when our time was up so let's wait."

After several minutes of socializing and getting to know each other better to kill time, the red echidna announced his arrival by mumbling,(or had he been doing that the whole way there and back?), with the red Master Emerald in hand; it was in its shrunken form. Knuckles placed the jewel in the black hedgehog's hand, telling him the words he needed to know and say to return the jewel back to its normal size.

"Shadow, since I'm not alive in your universe, you might want to find someone you can trust to care for it, or maybe you can care for it yourself." The guardian said.

Shadow raised a brow at this. "But I don't know how to deal with all that guardian crap. That was always the echinda's job."

Knuckles shrugged. "Well remember, Sonic's counterpart was able to learn a lot about it so you can too. It's not my problem."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Hmph, I’ll figure something out.”

"Oh, before I forget, this Master Emerald is missing…you know…”

Sonic and Shadow immediately knew what he meant as they recalled what the hero's counterpart said. "Chaos…”

The echidna smiled bittersweetly. "Yeah… but I think… I think it'd rather be dead than to live to be a part of that hedgehog forever." He said, the others also agreeing with his conclusion.

Then without warning, the red Chaos Emerald within the hand of Shadow quivered, pulsing every few seconds before expelling a large burst of Chaos energy, surprising everyone as yet another vortex appear however this time it was calm.

"Anddd that's your trip home!" Sonic indicated.

Sonic's assumption was indeed correct because, through the vortex, they all could see the crystalized church, which was exactly how both Rose and Sonic last saw it.

"Looks different since I last saw it…" Shadow said.

Rose nodded. "I'll explain it all later."

Sonic walked to Amy's counterpart, a cheesy smile plastered across his face. "Heh, we had a blast huh Rose Amy?" he said, _almost_ causing her to blush, but thankfully she was able to conceal it by rolling her eyes instead before hugging him tightly.

Of course, Amy and Shadow didn't like the display of affection.

Rouge, Cream, Knuckles, and Tails also said their own goodbyes, the latter literally melting when Rose hugged him, which in turn caused steam to escape from Cream’s ears.

After all was said and done, Rose turned towards her husband with a smile and held out a hand, which he gladly accepted. The black hedgehog didn't return the smile, but his ruby eyes did gleam brightly, telling her all she needed to know.

As they both walked near the portal, Shadow suddenly eyed the blue hedgehog; he smirked.

"Nice meeting you… _faker._ "

Then they were gone, the vortex vanishing right before their eyes.

Sonic blinked in shock. _But how?_ His eyes then softened, deciding not to put too much mind to it.

"What was that?" Amy asked, the group of friends making their long walk home.

Sonic shrugged. "Beats me, I'm too tired to care. Hey Tails, did you bring your plane here?"

The fox nodded. "Yeah, but I parked it near the train station."

"Alright, so we'll head down there and you and Cream can ride it back home. Amy and I will catch up with ya’ll later." Sonic said, a genuine smile beaming at the pink hedgehog. She returned it, linking one of her hands with his.

"So Rose was nice and just as beautiful as me!" Amy exclaimed, conceitedly flipping her hair.

"Yeah…she was really something…"

The pink hedgehog frowned, not liking how he said that. "What is it with you two? You think she looks better than me don't you!"

The blue hedgehog furiously shook his head in denial. "No-no-no! That's not it, I just uhhh like her hair a lot is all!"

Amy responded by slapping him upside the head.

"Real smooth hedgehog." Knuckles teased, making Rouge chuckle in amusement. Sonic just glared at them.

"So should I grow it out longer?" the pink hedgehog asked, self-consciously.

Sonic sighed as he grabbed her hand again. "Do what you want Ames, it's your hair. Forget what I said, I like you just the way you are!" He said, making the pink hedgehog's smile come back to life. _Though it would be really hot if she did…_ he added as an afterthought.

_"So Sonic-"_

_"Yeah?”_

_"How was the future me? Shadow had said I was really super smart!"_

_"Oh! Yeah, she was a total geeky nerd like Tails!"_

_"Hey!"_

_"Cool! Well, how was Tails?"_

_Silence._

_As the view zoomed out and focused on the star-gazing night sky, the cold windy air carried a familiar trench coat along with it, sending it to who knows where._

_"Sheesh Sonic, I couldn’t have been that bad! It's not like I was some kind of douchebag or something, right?"_

_Silence…_

_“Sonic?”_

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: And done…sort of. There is still an epilogue…and something…else…
> 
> You know I debated if I should have split this chapter. It was over 8,000 words/ 20 pages. I never really write as much because I feel like it just drags on and on. But since this was the last chapter, I felt it was very fitting to just post the whole thing. I hope you all truly enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it! It was a blast! I know DBZ became a strong point but that's what I felt like doing, any other way I would have been disappointed.
> 
> And here I will leave you with two things:
> 
> 1st: Believe it or not, I was actually at one point going to include two alternate endings. One had to do with what if Sonic and Shadow fused to become Shadic and the other was one where….let me keep that one to myself ;). But anyway, I changed my mind.
> 
> 2nd: I love each and every one of you guys that took the time to read this entire thing! Seriously! You’re all awesome! It took me hours of my life to write it. In a way, you all pushed me to write even better every step of the way! Thank you again!
> 
> That's it! =) Thanks again! Have a wonderful day whoever you are. If you are a writer too, don't ever believe that you can't be as great as the next person.
> 
> Happy Holidays!
> 
> Later!
> 
> (Posted: 12/25/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	21. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Sorry if the last part of this has inaccurate information. I did look online, but I winged some of it.

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

A white-gloved hand caressed the red shiny surface of the Master Emerald.

"Me? Protect this thing? That was your job Knuckles…" a certain black hedgehog whispered as if the echidna was alive and well, standing in front of him.

As soon as Shadow and Rose arrived back to their reality, their home, the Chaos Emerald in Shadow’s hand floated mid-air, getting practically yanked towards the see-through shrine, to join its sibling; the church shook violently.

Then silence followed, the sound raging storm coming to a stop.

Shadow grasped Rose protectively as the Earth started shaking, a sudden discharge of pure Chaos energy bathing the entire Church. The wild surge of energy exploded right through the ceiling, kissing the sky, liberating it from the never-ending crimson paint that had coated it for one whole day (or was it two?). Both the hedgehogs looked on with astonishment as everything seemed to roll back in time, returning everything that was dark, ugly, and dead back as it should be, bright, beautiful, and alive.

The Emeralds glistened with joy at having their sibling back with them as they hovered from the entrance of the Church, arranging themselves high in the now clear blue sky in a circular formation, before scattering dazzlingly across the heavens, vanishing from sight.

Rose all but hurled herself happily into her husband's arms, reeling him into a shower of kisses, giggles escaping her lips, the show of affections she gave making Shadow grin. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing freely, which was certainly a rare case as he wasn’t one to show his ‘happy’ emotions.

Then came the time to head on back to the workshop, to greet their probably worried sick friends, and well that was quite a memorable interaction, to say the least.

_Pushing the door open, both hedgehogs were met with a shocking sight, their jaw-dropping when their eyes landed on Miles and Cream, the latter straddling the other's waist while the fox himself stayed firmly pressed against the couch, comfortably seated. Luckily, the rabbit was still dressed but the same couldn't be said for the fox, then again they do live in a world where no one seemed to care that male creatures such as them roamed about stark naked._

_Go figure._

" _Ahem." Rose coughed, Shadow raising a brow when they saw that both the rabbit and fox stiffening comically, the rabbit craning her neck while her boyfriend peered to the side sheepishly._

" _Shit! Shadow and Rose are back."_

Wait for it…wait for it.

_"Ohmygosh you guys are back!" Cream cried out, turning into a blur as she threw herself into the black hedgehog's arms, causing him to chuckle._

" _Did you miss us?"_

_Cream smiled, her brown round eyes beaming as bright as the brightest of Suns as Shadow patted her back gently._

_Rose just smiled at the heartwarming scene, her emerald orbs locking onto the two-tailed fox, who faced her with a smidge of a grin. Then it dropped when he remembered their last interaction, which could have been the last one._

_Thankfully, that hadn’t been the case. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself knowing that a disagreement was the last thing they talked about._

" _So what happened? You have to tell us!" Cream demanded, peeling herself from Shadow before he became annoyed with her clingy ways._

_Rose replied wearily while giving the rabbit a hug they both eagerly wanted. "We will but muchhhh later, after we're well-rested because it was an emotional roller-coaster and I'm beyond tired."_

_Shadow seemed to agree, having the right idea by plopping himself on one of the couches, sighing with relief._

_That's when Miles finally decided to jump to his feet and face the pink hedgehog, awkwardly rubbing the back of his furry head. "Sooo yeahhh I'm sorry and stuff."_

_Rose laughed with disbelief. "Really? That's all you got to say?" she said, her hands on her hips._

_Miles fidgeted uncharacteristically. "Rose, you know I'm not good with apologies-"_

_She rolled her eyes. "Well, you better learn, starting now."_

_Cream and Shadow watched with interest as Miles sighed, dragging his hand down his face in frustration. "Finnneee! I'm sorry for being an asshole to you and-" He paused, fearing that the name he was going to say was gonna cause him to vomit. "Sonic…"_

" _Annnddd…" She urged._

" _And you were right about the bastard-"_

" _MILES!"_

" _I mean him being all righteous and shit."_

" _Keep going…" Rose encouraged, staring at her fingers with fake indifference._

" _What the fuck Amy-"_

" _Language…"_

" _S'not like you don't swear all the time-"_

" _You're drifting off-topic fox-boy," Rose said amusingly, using the nick-name a certain deceased bat gave him._

" _Okay! I'm sorry for punching the shit out of Sonic! There, are you_ freaking _happy?!" the fox spat out loathing._

_Rose sighed. "I guess…" She threw her hands up in the air in defeat, knowing that that was as close to an apology she was going to get._

" _So is the good Sonic still, yah know, alive?" Cream asked, returning to the couch, Rose following her example._

" _Yeah…he is…" Rose beamed._

_One of Shadow’s eye twitched. He did not know what had happened while they were together here, but he decided that he will interrogate his wife after he was well-rested._

_The rabbit jumped in the air thankfully. "That's so great! I wish I could see him again!" She chirped, her eyes shining with admiration. Rose was gonna say 'me too' but when she saw Shadow's scowl, she held it in. He probably was feeling threatened by the heroic blue hedgehog's oddly charming ways, so she decided that it was best to not talk about him again…that is unless he wanted to._ I’m still not saying anything about the kiss we almost shared. After all, I don’t want Shadow to starts hating him too…and worse, get a divorce.

_Then the most important question was voiced by Miles. "And what about the other one?" he asked, holding in his breath._

_Shadow smirked, deciding to answer. "Gone. For good this time."_ Hopefully, _he added as an afterthought since the twisted hedgehog had an awful knack for escaping the direst of situations._

" _Thank God…" Miles said, giving a true smile, Cream joining him._

_A few moments of welcomed silence pasted before Shadow spoke._

" _So Miles, don't suppose you'd tell us why you thought it would be a good idea to suck each other's faces in the living room." He said, wearing a smirk, clearly enjoying how both Miles and Cream turned into a rambling mess, trying to come up with a reason for their inappropriate behavior. Rose giggled as the fox all but ran to his work station, yelling something about finishing a project he started in the morning._

_Cream's eyes narrowed, shaking one fist at the retreating fox. "Coward! How dare you ditch me like this!" She hollered as she stomped off to her boyfriend._

" _Good one Shadow! That was awesome! I didn't know you had it in you!" She laughed, scooting closer to him, curling on his side._

_Shadow grinned._

Coming back to the present, Shadow sighed, obviously distressed over the whole situation with the Master Emerald. He didn't know the first thing about being a Guardian and well to be honest he really didn't care. The red echidna's counterpart had entrusted him to be the new Guardian despite his lack of knowledge of the jewel. The hedgehog cursed inwardly, having half a mind to just travel back to where the echidna was with the jewel in hand and just shove it straight up his-

"Maybe I can help you with your troubles."

Shadow jumped up in defense, facing the intruder, and much to his surprise he was met with an unfamiliar peach-colored echidna, who was dressed in tribal wear, her icy blue eyes observing him curiously.

"Who are you?" He asked. He couldn't put his finger on it, but for some reason, he felt like he _knew_ her.

"I'm Tikal. I-"

"Why do I feel like I know you?"

Tikal turned and stared at the Master Emerald. "It's probably because you are familiar with the Master Emerald and since I was once sealed within it, my Chaos energy is very similar to that of the Emeralds’.”

"Oh…"

The mysterious echidna looked at the hedgehog, smiling warmly, her elegant features brightening. "As I was saying, I'm Tikal. My spirit was sealed within the Master Emerald in order to protect Chaos but…" Her smile faltered. "But now with Chaos gone, the Emerald is weakened, so the spell that held me inside the jewel broke. I was the only one left to protect it, which I failed to do in the battle with you and the evil blue hedgehog you call Sonic."

Shadow's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Tikal sighed, as she walked to the jewel, placing her hand on its surface before sending a small jolt of Chaos energy, making it pulse radiantly.

Shadow tensed yet again. "Hey?! What did you just do?!"

"Calm yourself. I just gave it some of my own energy to help it heal faster because what it went through recently caused its infinite energy to deplete. Malicious energy stops the Emerald's special ability to remain with infinite power. If the negative energy continues to expand inside it, the Master Emerald will eventually die, leaving it nothing more than an empty shell of its former self. Only pure positive energy could bring back its infinite energy.”

Shadow's eyes widened. "So what you're saying is that whatever evil gets ahold of it wouldn't be able to last forever in the long run."

"Precisely..."

_Well then…it's nice to know that Sonic wouldn't have been able to succeed in his insane quest after all._

"Well, you said you can help me, right. So…" he pressed.

Tikal sat on the steps next to the red jewel. "First let me explain…Chaos is the _true_ guardian of the Master Emerald, however, he usually guards the jewel while inside. About 4,000 years ago, my father, Pachacamac, tried to steal both the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald to use it for war, to gain the power to defeat our enemies, to protect our tribe. However, it was a foolish idea to fight the other clans using the jewel's power since all that would do is create more and more destruction. I begged father to go another route, a more peaceful approach but he stubbornly refused to do so, saying that it would never put a stop to war, that it would just show that they were weak. He believed using the Emeralds' power to install fear was the best course of action."

"But it truly wasn't and I, out of pure panic, rushed to Chaos to warn him of my father's wicked plans to steal the jewels, telling him to take his children, the Chao, and leave. That I would take care of my father and protect the Emeralds. But he refused, saying that he couldn't leave the alter unguarded for even a second. So I left to make another attempt to try to talk my father out of his plans but he still wouldn’t listen to reason. In the end, my father along with the aid of most of our clan led a reckless attack on the shrine, ultimately leading to not only his death but our entire clan, only I remaining as the sole survivor."

"So Chaos murdered your clan because your father pissed him off."

Tikal jerked her head back cutely, not understanding what 'pissed off' meant, but given the context, she was able to put together its meaning. "Y-yes. Chaos became enraged and used negative chaos energy to transform into an evil creature. Even after killing everyone in my clan, he continued his rampage so I took drastic measures and used a mantra my grandmother taught me-"

Shadow snapped his fingers, interrupting Tikal. "Oh, the chant that Knuckles says all the time to activate the Master Emerald's power."

Tikal nodded. "Yes, however the only way to use that mantra against Chaos was to sacrifice my spirit and use it as a means to forcefully seal Chaos within the Master Emerald. But now that Chaos and the one you call Knuckles is gone, because of Sonic, my spirit was freed."

"So… does that mean you can be the new guardian of the jewel?"

Tikal smiled and nodded, tilting her head adorably.

_Problem solved._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well Miles was nicer here…right? ^_^; Also lol at me constantly questioning myself if this entire story took place in one or two days! XD
> 
> But wait! We ain’t done yet!
> 
> Forgetting something…
> 
> “The Other Me: An AO3 Special Chapter.)
> 
> Coming next week!
> 
> (Posted: 12/26/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


	22. An AO3 Special

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Heh remember “Just a Spur of the Moment”?...well… >=)
> 
> By the way, if you are confused at any point while reading, check: Chapter 16 mid-way point and Chapter 20 towards the end. I think you'll catch on quick though, if you've followed along anyway.

* * *

**The Other Me: An AO3 Special Chapter**

* * *

* * *

**A kiss…that’s all it took to change things for the worse…**

* * *

_“You know, I really ‘get’ her,” Rose whispered._

_“Get her?”_

_"My double, you know, your Amy." Her gaze burned into his. "You're just…It's just I'm beginning to understand why Amy loves you so much and-" She faked a cough, trying to hide a rather powerful blush from consuming her face. She really didn't want to voice her feelings but she felt like she had to. She didn’t know why. Maybe it would lessen the feeling of guilt somehow, the guilt of her actions. Even though they agreed to not talk about it, she couldn’t help it. Shadow’s constant look of betrayed was just there and the signed divorce papers were just dangling right in front of her and finally, her beloved one walking away from her life forever, it was too much to-_

_“Look…Rose.”_

Her heart leaped when she heard him call her ‘Rose’ instead of ‘Ames’. “Y-yes?”

_“Don’t sweat it!” He grinned. “Nothing happened. We are just under a lot of stress. It’s been a long day. Heck, I sometimes wonder if it’s really been only a day! It has right? Anyway, it was just a spur of the moment like thing. I’m sure as soon as you see Shadow again and I see my Amy again, your feelings will be sorted out, okay?”_

* * *

**Divergence**

* * *

Rose’s body shook, her fists balled up. “It’s just I’ve loved Shadow for so long and I finally have married him and then here you come, a doppelganger of our Sonic, but a good one and you give me these feelings in just _one_ fucking day!”

Frustration and desire getting the best of her, she grabbed our blue hero and pulled him into a heated kiss.

God Sonic was tempted. He really was. But with everything he had, he remained put, leaving the kiss one-sided. He would restraint himself. Amy was home waiting for him and if Rose couldn’t control herself- wait when did _he_ start kissing her back?

There they were, Sonic laying on the transparent floor with Rose kissing him desperately, her body fully molded with his.

Damn if it didn’t feel good.

“Sonic…”

That broke both the hedgehogs from their spell of desire.

Rose choked back a sob, tears streams down her eyes. If she felt like shit when she nearly kissed Sonic moments ago, imagine how she feels now that she actually did. _Kiss, it was a lip lock! We almost hit vanilla second base!_

“C-calm down Rose-”

“Don’t…Don’t call me that.” She said, her lips trembling. “Please…just call me Amy.”

“Amy… you’re just emotionally frustrated and-”

“Horny?” She interjected.

Sonic jerked his head, smiling tightly. “That too. You think I don’t feel bad too?”

She swallowed thickly, her hands trembling. “I’m married, Sonic, you are not. Hell, you aren’t even dating your Amy yet. But for me, I just cheated on my husband.” She cursed again.

“It’ll be alright,” Sonic said getting up, feeling much better.

“How can you say that? Shadow will want nothing to do with me when he finds out that I cheated on him. Worse, I did it with someone who looks like our worse enemy!”

“Look, we need to get going, Amy! Let it go! We made a mistake. You love Shadow, right?”

“Yes!”

“Good. If you tell him what happened, you’ll be taking the chance of screwing that up! So keep your mouth shut. I ain’t telling Amy nothin. I have no problem living with that.” He lied.

“You aren’t married.”

“Even if I was, I wouldn’t! Cause it was a mistake, a one-time mistake…with someone that looks like her!”

Rose’s eyes narrowed to slits, feeling absolutely furious. She can’t believe how lightly Sonic seemed to be taking all of this. 

“I’m done with all of this. That kiss made me realize that I miss _her_ , my Amy. Now get over it or talk it out with him. I never dwell on things too much, on my mistakes. Either I tell someone a mistake that involved them, or I keep it to myself. What they don’t know, don’t hurt em.” He didn’t mean anything he said. He merely said it because he was trying to make her feel better. She was right though, he didn’t cheat on Amy exactly, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling guilty. _But now is not the time for that. We need to get moving…_

Rose sighed, nodding understandingly. It was ultimately her choice if she wanted to talk it out with Shadow or not.

“F-fine, let’s go?” She said, pushing the subject to the back of her mind.

"Yeah, let’s…"

* * *

**_I had them beat. I had the Master Emerald, which I used to make the Chaos Emeralds of this universe to Super Emeralds. I even had forcefully merged with Chaos, the guardian inside the Master Emerald, and still they, no_ ** **HE, _my loathsome_ copy, _had bested me. Then there was Shadow, the other pestering hedgehog, the hedgehog that always stopped my goal of gaining absolute power._**

**_However today, I’m going to win._ **

* * *

**Success was Assured**

* * *

"You know what? Maybe you are right Shadow…maybe I can't beat you..." I said angrily, tightening my hand on the cracked red Emerald.

Shadow eyes wrinkled with confusion, as did the others. I bet they were wondering if I was going to wave the white flag, but the hell I was. I was done running away.

I gazed at Rose, licking my chapped lips when I saw her shiver with fear. Then I tilted my head when I witnessed another emotion flash within her eyes; what, I could not put together yet. It was… peculiar…it was like she was trying to conceal something, perhaps something she did wrong? But what did that have to do with _me_? What would bring out such…distress to the surface?

That’s when I saw it. It was brief, but I _saw_ it; she had, most likely accidentally, broke her staring contest with me, to look at my counterpart. The immediate amount of guilt and shame that overwhelmed her dazzling green orbs was delicious; she had been caught and she knew it! I don’t know what it was exactly but it appeared to have to do with my copy and well, that’s fantastic! There was something that had happened in my Universe between those two and I’m sure that it will give me the advantage! I felt it in my bones! **_Success was assured_**!

Her eyes shook as she silently begged me to not say anything but she knew I wasn’t going to listen. And she was right.

“So Shadow, haven’t you noticed the strange looks _my_ Rose has been giving my copy since she arrived here?” Other than this one time, I hadn’t. I have no idea how many times she looked at my counterpart with that same guilt.

Shadow did not turn to look at my Rose, probably wanting to keep an eye on me. I mean, who knows what I’ll do next? Not even I know.

“Strange looks?” a flash of emotions swirled in his red orbs, one that I recognized as worry.

Ah, so he has noticed something.

And my copy, well he was fidgeting on the spot. One of his legs was shaking, though barely. The copy of Rose was all of sudden eying him curiously and I laughed when he actually started to visibly sweat!

“Aww, you both seem nervous!” I saw Shadow sneak a peek towards Rose and my copy and he frowned, finally noticing how tense the hedgehogs looked. “What? Did you both hold hands? Perhaps hugged each other longer than necessary? What about a tiny kiss on the cheek?”

I saw Rose squeeze her eyes shut and face the ground with that shameful look that was starting to grow on me. As for _Sonic_ , I saw his face turn red, most likely boiling with anger; I knew his reaction was different than hers because he understood I was toying with them to gain the advantage.

* * *

**I Went In For The Kill.**

* * *

“Or did you kiss her, _Sonic?_ ”

To my astonishment, my copy must have been under so much distress because the idiot didn’t hesitate in shaking his head in… denial? Could he be telling the truth? If he is…then.

 _Oh shit!_ _This is gooood!_

“No way! Your precious wife did, didn’t she?! Gave the big ol’ idiot a kiss on the lips-”

“Shut up!”

I grinned wickedly when Rose exploded, her body trembling as her copy’s hand flew to her mouth. She stumbled backwards clearly in shock, the look of betrayal on her beautiful face giving me great pleasure.

“I can’t believe it! It has only been one day and Rose, your _wife_ , has already fucking _cheated_ on you! And with someone who looks like me no less!”

“Please shut up…please…” Oh God, the look on her face. That pleading, vulnerable look, it was sexy and driving me crazy! It nearly made me whine with want. Do you have any idea how much I wanted her to give me that look, while I had her pinned against a bed, as I took her over and over again. Her cries of pleasure would definitely be music to my ears! And she WILL be mine today!

“And I bet she went to second base or something!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut the _fuck_ up, Sonic!” Rose cried, her cute fists balled up as I watched tears stream from her gorgeous emerald eyes. 

“You did! This is fucking gold!” I howled gleefully. “How much further? Did you fu-”

I felt a sharp pain when a hard fist slammed into my face, sending me across the ground. Instead of growling with anger like I normally do, I roared with laughter while I stood up and wiped the trail of blood cascading from my lips. I watched Shadow panting heavily, completely irritated with me; I savored it.

“No…it was vanilla second base and yes I initiated it. If it helps, it didn’t last long.” She admitted, making me grin with satisfaction.

My copy sighed with defeat, knowing that there was no point in hiding it. “She-she was flustered, frustrated? Maybe she got a tiny crush on me?”

“Not helping!”

I listen, but I did not take my eyes off Shadow. I didn’t want to get another surprise attack…that and I was enjoying the rage that I could practically feel from where I stood.

“At first, I resisted, but she looks so much like you Ames.” My copy said to Rose’s double. “So I caved in…”

Surprisingly, Rose’s twin had put a hand on my double’s shoulder, apparently trying to comfort him? Maybe she foolishly had enough faith in him, believing he was telling the truth. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised; I hate it.

“It-it’s okay Sonic…I believe you. We are identical and-and the way I see it, this confirms that you have feelings for me. Also, we are not exactly official, right?”

Not wanting to see any more of their shit, I turned to Shadow, and boy what I saw was beautiful! He was giving my copy the ugliest death glare, one that almost rivaled the one he reserved for me and I grinned, believing that this was it! He was going to attack him and I will just watch them kill each other! After all, the others were too weak to harm me! Then again, I know that as of this moment, I don’t have the strength to transform yet, so Knuckles and Rouge might be a problem. The fox and rabbit don’t know how to defend themselves and both the Roses are too emotionally unstable to join the battle.

Damn and I can see the bat and echidna already glaring at me.

Instincts took over as I leaped away from Shadow, who had thrown himself at me, intending to catch me off guard; that wasn’t going to happen again.

Again, Shadow attacked me, hurling fist after fist, his facial expression filled with total rage. It seems that instead of taking out his anger on my copy, he chose to direct it to me, his true opponent; such a shame, but it didn’t matter. I could see it. He isn’t going to win this fight. He was seeing red, too clouded by fury, currently pissed at my copy and perhaps even his wife as they both were cheaters (it doesn’t matter that Rose’s double and that blue faker weren’t truly together, they still have a feeling for one another).

I smirked as Shadow rushed towards me like a wild animal, attacking me recklessly, thoughtlessly, with no strategy whatsoever. Actually, chances are that he is thinking, but it wasn’t about defeating me. It was probably about his wife sucking face with my copy. The image was replaying over and over again, wait I should actually say this instead of thinking it!

“Picture it Shadow! Her, flat on her back, on YOUR bed, with his hands, which look exactly like mine, tracing her lovely curves!”

I could practically see the steam blowing from his ears as I continued to use one arm to easily block and deflect every attack he threw at me, giving him the nastiest of smiles, goading him, pressing his buttons until he tired himself out and collapsed like a sack of potatoes. And rest assured, once he did, I will break him by making him watch me possess Rose as I did with her copy. Before, I would not have believed that Rose could fall for my charm, considering she hated me, felt disgusted at my mere presence. But today, I learned something. Things have changed and it’s all thanks to my worthless copy. Because of his charms, my Rose has developed a crush on him and well, guess what? I’m a Sonic too aren’t I? _That’s the only requirement I need for my spell to work-_

* * *

**A Crush For A Sonic.**

* * *

And once Shadow is down on his knees, his heart crushed…

_I’ll kill him._

I caught his next punch before striking him across his cheek, stunning him. I watched as he jumped, attempting to give me a diagonal kick to my head, but I quickly latched onto his foot, flipping him over while I turned, slamming him into the ground. Lifting my foot, I aimed to stomp on his chest, but the bastard ignited his jet shoes, pushing himself out of harm’s way, also lightly burning the fur on my legs. I suppressed the need to scream in pain as I witnessed Shadow rolling into a ball, shoot himself into the air, trying to perform a homing attack, but I match him with my own, the two of us bouncing off each other, crashing on opposite sides. Flipping onto my feet, I swore when I saw my copy enter the battle, doing a stomp attack, aiming for my head, but I used Chaos Control, appearing above him and dropping my elbow onto his head, sending him soaring down into the pavement. Shadow then jumped in and shit now it has become two against one. I have to take out one of them to make this a one on one match again. I’m much too weak to take them both on. I couldn’t help but grin when Shadow shoved _Sonic_ aside, telling him to not interfere, insisting that he didn’t need or want his help. Eying Shadow tauntingly, I laughed when I caught his fist with one hand, his balled-up hand trembling and I smelled victory because I could _feel_ the strength leaving him.

Leaning in closely, I whispered, “Rose will be mine, _forever_.”

Without hesitation, I took advantage of his sloppy attack, flipping him over in a full arm toss, slamming him into the concrete. With his arm still in hand, I gave a fanged grin as I twisted it in an impossible angle, snapping it right in two.

Shadow’s blood-curdling scream was the best thing I’ve heard today…well actually, Rose’s pleading voice tops it.

I heard Rose shriek when I firmly grabbed one of the bastard’s leg and twisted it, breaking that too. I wanted to make sure that he could no longer move. This fight is done. Now, I just have to rid myself of my copy-

I gasped when my double tackled me with his shoulder, causing both of us to roll haphazardly across the street, the both of us struggling to get the upper hand. It was at this point, that I realized that _Sonic_ had no Chaos energy within him. He had used it all up when he hit me with that weird attack that had robbed me of my power.

Thankfully, when we stopped, I came out as the winner and I did not waste a moment, quickly smashing my fist directly into his forehead, knocking him out. I heard a yell above me and I rolled aside raising my feet, catching the echidna in the stomach, sending him over and past me. In came the fucking bat, her wings flapping rapidly as she performed a drill double kick, falling down like a damn rocket. It hurt like a bitch when it connected with my chest, leaving me winded; that was the only hit I had received so far, which I’m quite proud of mind you.

“Thunder Arrow!” Knuckles!

“Black Wave!” Rouge!

“Swarming Hearts!” And the two Roses!?

I cannot handle this! I could do nothing but watch as all their attacks closed in on me; I panicked! I cannot lose! Not when I’m _this_ close!

Out of desperation, I called upon the Chaos Emeralds, even though I knew my power hasn’t been restored. I was finished! I failed! Again! And most likely for the last time!

But if that were true, why am I still standing?

Looking at my hands, I felt the awesome power of Chaos energy flowing through me in waves. I didn’t bother to check myself because I knew I was Super Alpha once again! And considering the smoke clouding me from sight, I knew their attack had landed.

Using the debris to my advantage, I pushed myself into the sky, shocking everyone, the expression of horror on their faces doing wonders for me. Holding out a hand, I let loose a Chaos Bolt, watching it as it exploded into the ground, sending all the fools scattering. Softly saying the Chaos Control command, I stunned the echidna by winking in front of him. Before he could react, I grabbed his head and slammed it against my knee, literally hearing the sickening crunching sound echo into my ears...and as well as the others, having heard them cry out his name. Observing the echidna's bloody caved in head and lifeless white eyes, I nodded approvingly.

He was dead.

Muttering ancient echidna tribal words that I had studied from tablets, I manage to draw out the green shrunken Master Emerald from the corpse in my hands. Tossing the body like garbage aside, I clutched the jewel, absorbing the infinite power within it. With a wave of my hand, I beckoned the red Master Emerald on top of the building to come to me, the jewel shrinking as it landed into my free hand (I had commanded the cracked crimson Emerald to orbit around me). Gripping both the Master Emeralds, my eyes rolled back, my head lifted, chin up as their power was absorbed into my body. My fur converted to crimson and my eyes, a bright yellow just as I visualized them to be; I had to change my looks so I could stand out, no longer have the appearance of my copy, of any copy of me. Soon, the Chaos Emeralds of this Universe joined me in their Supersize gory. I sighed, my body relaxing when both the Master Emeralds and all the Chaos Emeralds settled down inside me, accepting me as their new master. 

* * *

**I Won**.

* * *

They were terrified and they should be. With a snap of my fingers, I could erase them.

Shadow, who I saw was barely holding himself together, grit his teeth, knowing that he had lost; it was glorious! My shitty copy was quietly staring at the ground, with his Rose clutching his arm tightly. The fox and his whinny girlfriend were hugging in terror, shaking like loose leaves and the bat was pathetically hugging the lifeless body of the echidna, with rivers of tears falling from her eyes.

And then there was my lovely Rose. She was standing adorably by her lonesome, her eyes glazed and facing the ground while she ran a hand up and down her left arm nervously.

Raising my hand, I shot a wave of energy at Rose, watching as it encased her form, making her eyes widen and freeze in place. Her body twitched. I could tell she was trying to break loose, but it was a waste of strength. She was not getting out of my hold. Doing a ‘come here’ motion with my index and middle finger, I used my power to will Rose towards me. I snorted as she struggled fiercely, my eyes rolling when she stupidly asked Shadow to save her. How can he? I broke one of his legs and even if he managed to hobble his way over here, it would be too late. I encircled her waist, drawing her into a hug, burying my nose into her soft pink long puffy hair. Ahhh, strawberries, so much better than her worthless copy. They might appear the same, but they are not. No one is exactly identical, _Sonic_ was living proof. Rose, this gorgeous creature, who will soon be my queen and love of my life, is superior to the one of this Universe; she’s perfection.

“L-let me go…yo-you mon-ster…” My Rose stuttered, continuing to struggle.

“If you keep on resisting me, I will kill Shadow.”

I smiled with satisfaction when that ceased her movements. Licking my lips, I saw her beautiful large green eyes widen, taking in the very last time I’d see the fear within them.

“Rose!” I wasn’t concerned with Shadow any longer, I had defeated him and I will now take what’s rightfully mine.

“Wh-what are y-you going to d-do to me, S-Sonic?”

“Make you call me Alpha.” I muffled her voice, my lips molding with hers perfectly. I heard Shadow cry out her name in anguish as my corrupted aura coated her, making her melt in my arms, just as her counterpart had.

Fuck if I didn’t moan when Rose grabbed my head, digging her fingers into my locks, roughly deepening the kiss. God, it was amazing! My pink Goddess was running her hands all over my chest and shoulders, driving me insane. That festering hate that she had towards me, it made it all the easier to darken her soul, body, and mind because the more you hate me, the better my charm will work; now, she loves me just as much as she hated me. Breaking apart, I stared into her half-lidded ruby eyes.

“How do you feel?”

Rose traced a finger on my chest, making small circles. “Like I’m _seeing_ for the first time. I see it Alpha…I see it all…understand it all…the Multiverse…it can be ours. And if there are those who oppose you…us… with your power, they will fall before you, on their knees, and _accept_ you as their new master.”

I looked at Shadow and felt stunned when I actually saw, for the first time, his eyes filled to the brim with tears.

I have destroyed the poor bastard.

And it felt good.

* * *

**It Felt Really Good**

* * *

“R-rose, come back…” he bitched.

“Go kill him…put him out of his misery.”

Rose pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Nah, let’s take him with us.”

I did a double-take. “Why?”

“I want him to watch. I want him to watch us take everything.”

I liked where this was going.

“That way, he can live until the day he died, knowing that he lost me and failed his friends.”

I blinked. “That’s…actually much better than killing him. He’s been a thorn on my side for years and this is the perfect punishment!”

Turning to my copy and Rose’s, I grinned, a great idea coming to mind. “As for the others…”

With a wave of my fingers, I sent waves of soul corrupting energy at the rabbit, the fox, and lastly the bat. In a matter of seconds, their eyes went red, each wearing battle suits.

I beckoned them towards me and they obeyed. I snorted with amusement when I saw the fox swagger confidently to me, his arm wrapped around his evilly smirking girlfriend’s shoulder. The fox had been obviously shy, considering his new confiding attitude. And the rabbit, she must have been the happy-go-lucky type since she now appeared very dark. Lastly, there was Rouge. I was glad she was no longer crying over that oaf…but her red eyes carried no life in them. It was…odd since she had a unique personality when I charmed her the first time. Perhaps killing the echidna had taken her will to want to live and…honestly, as long as she does as I command, I really don’t give a shit.

“And now you… _Sonic the hedgehog…_ I have a special parting gift for you.”

“Parting gift?”

I snapped my fingers.

I laughed when I witnessed my copy scamper from my Rose’s copy as she slowly started turning into dust.

“S-Sonic?”

“Amy! Hold on!”

“Wh-what hap-happening to-”

And she was gone, becoming one with the wind.

My double dropped to the ground, crying out his Rose’s name in anguish, his eyes watering and well, why wouldn’t he be? I had just taken everything from him

Gesturing my head to Shadow, Rose walked to his broken form.

“Rose, please-”

I winced at the sickening punch my queen had given her ex-husband, knocking him out cold.

“Bat-girl, pick him up, we’re heading home.”

“Yes sir.” Rouge obeyed, throwing Shadow’s loose body over her shoulders.

Snapping my fingers, a black vortex broke through space and time, revealing the church the bastard had married my Rose in.

“D-don’t run you, coward!” I shook my head in pity.

“ _Sonic_ , I’ll tell you what. I’m not going to kill you. I want you to live so that you can remember, while you lay on your bed, desperately trying to remove the memories of today, the day you had failed. I took your friends from you and made them into my servants, killed two of them, one of them — your girlfriend, and-”

I heard Rose laughed. “Alpha, I don’t think that’s going to be possible, for him to live that is. He knows it. While we were in our Universe, we learned that if a set of Chaos Emeralds were moved to another, leaving that Universe with none, the Universe wouldn’t survive. It will cease to exist eventually. I don’t know how long though, as the situation will be different than ours.”

I shrugged. “Well then, Rose, you will have to explain this to me in-depth later on and you, _Sonic_ , can enjoy your final days.”

Sonic stayed silent.

I grabbed Rose’s hand and jumped into the vortex. I had nothing else to say.

 _Sonic_ and Shadow had lost and I took _everything_ away from them…and that’s…that’s good enough for me…

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

I sighed, while on the cold concrete, holding onto my single tail. It had been nearly a year since it had been savagely sliced off, for mere amusement and I still couldn’t stop staring at the amputated spot. How could I? I had been born with it. And to see it gone, well the nickname, though I wasn’t fond of it much, would no longer make sense, would it? 

Dropping my tail, I stared at my food; moldy stale bread and a gross bowl of water. My eyebrow twitched, one of my chipped ears doing the same as I glared at the bread, almost as it had offended me, like it was to blame for the predicament I was in. I refuse to eat the damn stale bread they continue to feed me anymore. Yesterday had been the last time. Sure I had said this before, for the past two years, but I meant it this time. I wasn’t gonna give in.

But then I looked at _her_ and my resolve died... like it always does.

She was the reason why I caved, why I broke. I was just trying to be strong….strong for her. If she wasn’t still here, it’d be easier to put my foot down.

Yes, if she hadn’t been around, I wouldn’t have to be strong any longer.

Looking at her again, my heart sank. There she was, my once lively and pushy smart rabbit, hungrily chewing and swallowing the bread like it was her last meal and hell maybe it was. I whined when I saw her choke on a piece of the food, hurriedly picking up the metal bowl, which contained water, and greedily slurping it to wash down the piece that had nearly suffocated her. Once she was finished, the bowl empty and bread devoured, she looked at me and quickly turned in embarrassment, the shame of getting caught in a moment of weakness evident on her cheeks.

Staring at my bread again, I lost my cool. Without thinking, I grabbed it and chucked it out of the cell.

“Ouch!” whined a voice that sounded identical to mine.

“Oh stop being such a baby Tails, it was just bread.”

“Yeah, bread that feels like a rock.”

I saw Tails walk into the chamber, and he had at the wrong time because he had been the victim of the bread assault. When a rabbit, who was identical to mine, came from behind, Tails bop her head with the food, making her wince. She swiftly snatched it from his hands, giving it a good squeeze.

“Oh wow, you weren’t wrong!”

“See? What am I ever wrong, Cream?”

“Like, all the time.”

“Nuh-ah!”

“Uh-ha!”

“Nuh-ah!”

“Uh-ha!”

“Nuh-ah!”

“Uh-ha!”

“Oh shut up and get a room!”

The two stopped their arguments and faced me. I was standing tall, my arms crossed. I knew they knew that I was trying to look strong and yeah, it might have worked…if my damn twig-like legs weren’t trembling. Since I didn’t use them much and barely eat, my body weight had become difficult to hold.

Tails frowned, his red eyes shining with annoyance. “You know, you shouldn’t have done that. Now you won’t be getting food for a couple of days-”

“Get fucked!”

The douchebag laughed. “It’s always with the bad language with you.”

“He also won’t shut up sometimes.”

“I know, right?”

“Like, why the heck does Alpha assign us to guard or fetch these two when he wants them?”

Tails shrugged, probably bored with the conversation. He faced my Cream in the cell. She was in the far corner, curled on the cement floor against the wall. I know he felt bad for her, but not really because he cared for her, but because she has the appearance of his own girlfriend. It didn’t have to be this way, I had been told. The _Prick_ had said, because of her ‘good behavior’, she could join them. However, the only way she could join was for her to get on her knees and state she surrendered since the _Prick_ no longer forced his power onto people who didn’t want to be his servant. If she surrendered, she’ll then be treated just as they were, as his loyal servants. She will no longer have to endure being in this stupid cell and eat this shitty bread and water they feed us daily.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for me (not that I would want to. I’d rather be here forever than be his servant). The _Prick,_ he hated me just as much as I hated him. And I guess he just wants me to suffer. He gets a kick out of torturing me.

And all I can do is endure it and…watch as everything crumbled around me.

I watch curiously as Tails inserted a key to open my cell.

I strike, just as I always do.

And Tails leaned backwards, like he always does, watching as my fist soars over. I knew Tails had expected this. I knew he would dodge it. But I still did it anyway, because I was foolishly hoping one day I’d land a hit. Not that a single hit would get me far. I was much too weak to fight, but at least I would be satisfied that I managed to deck him once. He grabbed me by my wrist, quickly cuffing me with a pair of Chaos energy powered handcuffs he created

“Where the hell are you taking me?”

The Ass-monkey gave me a shit-eating-grin. “To give Alpha a foot rub.”

I gagged. “Wh-what? No way!”

Cream stifled a laugh with a hand. “Be nice Tails. Miles, he’s joking….right?”

“Nope, that’s what Alpha told me.”

My jaw dropped.

“Well then…I’ll get the lotion!” Cream joked as she bolted from the chamber, her laughter trailing behind her.

Tails also laughed. “Sheesh, he must really hate you.”

I ground my teeth, trying to control my temper. “You’re so weak-minded, you know that? I can’t believe you bow down to _him_. He’s a monster.”

“Maybe, but it isn’t that bad. He lets us do whatever we what, as long as we complete the missions he assigns us.”

“Yeah, go and gather Chaos Emeralds and Master Emeralds from other Universes. And if those people there don’t surrender, you inform the Asshole and he won’t bother to ‘save’ them from the dying Universe.”

“BUUTTTT, if they do, Alpha will bring them all here and save them from getting killed!” Tails said with a frown. He obviously doesn’t like when I talked shit about his precious master. Like I give a shit.

“Yeah, bring them here so they can do labor work for nothing.”

“That is soooo not true!” Cream walked back in, with the biggest slice of pizza I’ve ever seen…well that wasn’t true. It only looked big because I have eaten nothing but freaking bread and water for the last two years!

I swore bitterly when my traitorous mouth started to water with hunger. Ohhh I hate this bitch sooo much! It didn’t matter that she looks like my Cream. That darkness that had rotted her pure innocent heart and soul, it had overshadowed her beautiful appearance.

“Pl-please…can I ha-have some?” A small familiar voice begged, making my stomach turn.

I saw Cream look at mine. She cringed and I already knew what the bitch was thinking: _‘Ugh, she’s so…filthy. All those black smudges all over her body, making her fur all tousled, are absolutely horrid. God, she almost looked like a cat that had been thrown into the water and then left to air dry, making its hair stick out like a porcupine._ I don’t know what disturbed me more; the fact that I could hear her saying that or the fact that I had thought of it. Probably both.

I saw her make a face and walk towards her, holding out the slice, however, just as my rabbit reached out for it, she released it. I could only watch, with dull wide blue eyes, as my Cream witness with horror written on her face as the deliciously smelling pizza splatted on the dirty floor; to make it worse, this…this horrible twin of hers had the audacity to stepped on it with her shoes, smearing it with her heel like it were a bug.

“Oops, how clumsy of me!”

My broken rabbit burst into tears, crying that she couldn’t take it anymore.

Neither could I.

“Then submit to Alpha! And you can have as much pizza as you want!” Cream sneered, her pure ruby eyes shining as she grabbed one of her double’s long ears and pulled it roughly, making her shriek in pain. My heart screamed.

Crying louder, she dropped to the ground. “No…” She responded. She was as hard-headed as me.

Cream shorted. “Then eat that mess on the ground.” She said, stomping away, probably to grab another slice or something else to tease us with.

“Damn, that’s such a waste of pizza!”

“You-you God damn pricks!” I growled, tears falling from my glazed blue eyes.

“Oh wow, she actually listened.”

My head whipped to the side and I groaned when I saw my Cream, _scrapping_ the spattered pizza with her _dirty_ fingers and _licking_ it!

I was done with this.

“The hell I just can’t stand this! I don’t wanna watch her like this! Please, just do it…”

Tails tilted his head in confusion. “Do what?”

“I know you guys came here because you are bored, you both always do this.”

“Yeah…you’re probably right.” The dick grinned. “But what do you want me to do?”

“Take her to…” I was gonna do it. I _had_ to do this…no matter how much I hated it. I can’t watch her like this anymore. Because for my Cream, I’ll do anything _._ “Tell Al-Alpha I’ll submit for her!”

“No, Miles! You can’t!”

“The fuck I can’t!” I growled angrily. “Now take us both to Alpha! I’ll bow down to the bastard, stating that I’m submitting for her. The fact that I’m doing that, he’ll get pleasure out of it. He will grant me my wish…because then, my Cream will be treated better than she is now. She won’t give a shit about me after also and that’s…that’s enough for me. As long as he keeps her safe, it’ll be enough for me…”

“Miles! No!” My ears drooped when Cream grabbed the cell bars, frantically shaking them. “Don’t listen to him, Tails, please don’t! I don’t want to turn! I don’t want to leave Miles by himself.”

“You won’t give a shit after, Cream…” I whispered, tiredly. _Besides, it’ll be easier than…easier to just give up…because I don’t have to worry about you being alone…_

* * *

Here we were, being escorted to _his_ throne so that I could humiliate myself for my Cream’s sake. My double and Cream’s pushing the entry doors in, I was greeted with the alter that looked like the shrine of the Master Emerald, the one on Angel Island. On top of the seven columns that surround the shrine, I saw seven jewels that looked exactly like the Chaos Emeralds; but I wasn’t fooled. These jewels were _not_ mere Chaos Emeralds.

They were seven _Master Emeralds,_ shrunken to the side of a normal Chaos Emerald. And in the dead center was the first one he took, the crimson one from this Universe, which was in its original giant size. Next to the shrine was Rouge. She was in charge of guarding the jewels, not that they really needed to be. It pained me to see her like this. She looked like a statue. Her pure ruby eyes were always shining with the _Prick’s_ power. In fact, they have been ever since the day she came here from this _Prick’s_ counterpart’s Universe. It was awful. She was soulless, a shell of her former self. Unlike the others under _his_ control, when they sent her on a mission, she will go without complaint, no questions asked. She was the most powerful out of all _his_ servants. He tells her to snap a guy’s neck, there is no hesitation. It’s insane and I couldn’t help but wonder why…does it have to do with her Knuckles?

Well, that’s one question, I will never know the answer to, as the Ass never tells me anything. Just as I’ll never know what had happened to the Rose where my counterpart came from, as well as what happened to the _Prick’s_ own counterpart. However, if I had to guess, I’d say he killed them, as he had brought that Universe’s version of me, Cream, and Rouge. And if he hadn’t, they are definitely goners now since he’s been taken the Emeralds and Master Emerald from there two years ago. 

Escorting us further down, we were finally at our destination.

I stared at him with pure hatred. I hated him more now than before this mess. In fact, I hated him so much, that I would kill _myself_ if someone were to tell me that I’d take him with me if I did.

“Hello _Miles_. Cream. How can I help you today?” The bastard said, stoically, his arms wrapped around Rose’s waist, holding her firmly on his lap. She looked sleepy and all comfy, her cheek resting against his red chest.

This made me want to puke. At this point, I hated Rose too. I don’t give a rat’s ass that it wasn’t her fault; she just wasn’t the same person anymore. He had warped her mind, changed her into a horrible person. And soon, once this is done and over with, I won’t be alive long enough to learn to hate her, my Cream. Then again, I don’t think I ever could…

Stepping forwards, the _Prick’s_ yellow eyes followed mine curiously as I kneeled before him.

“I-I know if I submit and accept you as my master, you will reject me-”

“Correct.”

“-But can you _please_ let me submit for _her_.” I pointed at my girlfriend, my eyes glistening with sadness. “I can’t stand to see her like this. You have offered her a way out and she won’t take it because of me. So…”

I lowered my head down until my forehead touched the floor. “I, Miles ‘Tails’ Prower, submit for Cream the Rabbit, so that she could accept you as her master…” There, I said it. I even added in ‘Tails’ to sweeten the deal.

He blinked. Then frowned. “You…you do know this is not good enough Tails. She has to submit herself. I will not force her to accept me as her master.”

"But just this one last-"

"No."

I felt my heart drop from my chest and splash into the ocean of bile in my stomach, sizzling the organ into nothing. Oh well, at least I tried…

“I’ll allow it.”

I lifted my head and my mouth fell along with the _Douchebag’s._

“What?” He asked. I wanted to laugh at his stupefied look, as no one ever defies him.

“I’ll allow it,” Rose repeated.

“Objection! I’m the ruler here and I said I won’t allow it!”

“Well I’m your _Queen_ , and I say I get a say in this!”

He looked away.

“Come on sweetheart, let me have this one. Let the poor fox have it.”

Tightening his lips stubbornly, his expression wrinkled. His shoulders then sagged. “Fine, wish granted.”

My Cream freaked. “No-no-no!” she cried, breaking away from her evil double’s hold and diving into my chest. “I don’t want to leave you! I love you too much! If they do this, I won’t anymore! Please! No!”

I gave a pained sad smile. “It’s okay. I’ll always know you do…did and I will love you forever…that’s enough for me…” taking one last look at her beautiful doe eyes, I lifted her chin up and kissed her softly, treasuring it. This was the last time…I know it…she knew it…and they knew it.

When I broke the kiss and backed away from her, I saw her eyes flutter open.

They were red, just like everyone’s in the throne room. It’s crazy…just how powerful he is now…she-she didn’t glow or anything. She just turned…

I looked down, not wanting to see my reborn now ex-girlfriend. I just wanted to be escorted back to my cell and be left alone.

“Miles…” the fox felt a small hand lift his chin up. “You didn’t have to do that…” she sighed, caressing his furry cheek. “But you’re right; it’s going to be okay.”

What the hell? Why is she acting so-

“Because I’m gonna keep you as a puppy!” She grinned impishly, hugging me tightly.

And there it is…

I couldn’t stop myself from returning her hug.

“Can I keep him, Alpha?!”

He shrugged. “Sure, knock yourself out. Just make sure he is well feed and behaves.”

“Oh don’t worry, I will.” She said, her crimson orbs glowing darkly, knowingly. “Don’t think I don’t know what you were thinking of doing once I joined Master Alpha! There will be none of that.”

Ah Fuck. Well, there goes my plan…

“Okay, I feel gross and hungry.” She stuck her tongue out.

“I can help with that!” her double popped in. “Follow me and we’ll get you cleaned up and get you that pizza I accidentally dropped.”

“It was so not an accident!”

“I swear it wa-”

I watched as my Cream and her counterpart walked further into the palace, disappearing around the corner, with a sad yet relieved tiny smile.

Alpha waved his hand. “You are dismissed.”

“Bye Tails. Don’t say I never did something for yah.” Rose said, giving him a playful wink.

“Yeah…thanks…” _bitch…._ I added as an afterthought.

But I found it strange. Cream didn’t appear to hate me...and while I _can_ be happy about that, I’m not. She wanted to keep me like a freaking puppy. And honestly, that glowing red-eyed glare she gave me before she left, tells me that she isn’t going to treat me well. Whatever…what’s done is done, right? 

As I was being escorted back to my cell, I did the one thing I had ignored when I entered _his_ throne room, to meet with the Asshat. 

Turning my head, I saw him.

There, in a boxed Chaos energy fenced cell, rested Shadow; he was a mess.

The leg and arm that Alpha had snapped in two were missing, the evil red hedgehog figuring that it wasn’t worth the troubling melding his bones back together. So he just had them cut off and bandaged.

I remembered that day he had done it. He…had done it…in a gruesome and humiliating manner. He had placed Shadow on the red Master Emeralds, his body lying uselessly on the jewel. And Rose…she merely watched with the others under _his_ control, her vile smile sickening me as _he_ created a sharp blade made of Chaos energy and amputated Shadow’s appendages. I remembered his scream…I remember Cream’s scream as well as mine. It was the worse…and I’d rather have had the _Ass_ cut _both_ my tails off than have seen what I saw that day. 

My icy blue eyes just stared at him as I grew closer and closer to the entrance that would lead me out of this monster’s throne room. 

I saw Shadow crack a single eye open briefly before he closed it again, probably drifting back to sleep.

I’m sorry…Shadow…for being so weak…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yikes! Dark as hell, right? This was weird for me because not only have I never written a bad ending, but I wrote this in First Person POV, well except for the beginning part (I hope I did this correctly lol).
> 
> Remember this is NON-CANON! The other ending is. This is just something I had been thinking about doing. You see, years ago, when I finished this story, I had said that I had thought about doing an ending with Shadic (Sonic + Shadow fusion, as I mentioned in the last chapter before the epilogue), since it had been a thing for years, but then I was like nah, it's outdated and shit. And the other, was a dark ending. I had no idea what to write at the time and I had also burnt myself out with this story, so I decided against it.
> 
> But with all this editing and moving my stories from fanfic to here, I decided to give it a shot. I did not expect it to turn out like this. Imo, I like the darkness of it. So yeah, this is the only new chapter of this story. I’m not even gonna bother moving anything.  
> I hope all of you enjoyed this.
> 
> The sequel to this story, A Splash of Pink Paint” is up, with 4 chapters and…I haven’t updated it in a while, but I hope to eventually, now that this is done. However, I am in the process of moving my biggest ongoing project on to this site, “Across Time: Eternal Hope” (DBZ Story), as well as writing new chapters for it. But eh, I’ll be around.
> 
> Later guys!
> 
> OH, and have a Happy New Year ^_^;
> 
> (Posted: 12/30/2020)
> 
> ~Gater~


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